LINDA BOATMAN
Westmoreland County artist Linda Boatman earned a Master of Arts degree in Art from the University of Iowa in 1985.
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Linda has been creating art since her elementary school years, when a test administered by the school system showed an aptitude in art. At hand were many Simplicity pattern packages her mother used to sew for her four daughters. The patterns Linda and her three sisters used in 4-H sewing projects were also appealing. She thought only these and the “Draw Me” ads in magazines were suitable for testing her ability to draw.
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She graduated from the University of Iowa with a B. A. degree in Education and special education, in 1969. Her life was devoted to home and family for several years, moving from place to place.
​By the late ‘seventies, Linda was well established in Iowa City, Iowa society, and the children were in school. Now “thirty-something”, Linda decided the next decade would be hers to seriously explore her own wants and needs.
A neighbor introduced her to an artist friend who encouraged her to enroll in Roxanne Sexauer’s drawing class at the Iowa City Rec Center. It was the right path.
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Within a year or two, she enrolled at the U of I to study art-making. She realized that she was a designer while taking the Basic Design class taught by Professor Hu Hung Hsu. Life drawing, taught by Professor Joseph Patrick, focused on drawing the figure from life and still life setups, providing a second area of emphasis.
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Linda’s MA studio thesis is etched and formed Plexiglas sculpture, now in the collection of the University of Iowa.
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In 1995, Linda migrated to Chicago, Illinois, where she lived for twelve years. While in Chicago, she discovered the Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts, located in an old mansion on North Dearborn Street in Chicago. She is a past-President of the Palette.
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While an Artist-member of the P & C, she learned to paint. Linda prefers to paint with oils, from life. The Chicago Plein-Air Painters, various paint and drawing workshops and classes at the Palette, as well as a studio in the Coach house further developed her art-making skills. Eventually she moved to a studio in the Fine Arts Building, on Michigan Avenue.
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In 2008, Linda migrated to the Northern Neck of Virginia, where she lives today.
Linda’s commissions include fiber sculpture for the First Christian Church in Iowa City, Iowa, and landscape painting in Virginia.
Linda’s work has been enhanced and inspired by travels to Europe, China, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
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The Art Center of Montross is a welcome addition to Westmoreland County. The Center provides a local venue to show her work, and a community of artist-friends who share Linda’s goals of making art and having fun.