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EDUCATION:
1980 - Bachelor of Fine Arts - Kutztown University
1983 - Minor - Computer Science - Kutztown University
1996 - MBA Finance - St. Joseph's University

WORKSHOPS:
Albert Handell, PSA
Stan Sperlak, PSA
William Ewing

Affiliations:
Chester County Art Association
Delaware Valley Art League
Wayne Art Center
Philadelphia/Tri State Artists Equity Association
The Artists Circle
Sandra Sigley, Fine Artist
Growing up in Southeast Pennsylvania, in a family with an appreciation of all of the arts, I was exposed to beautiful natural landscapes, various genres of music, literature and a wide variety of classical art forms. My family shared these interests with extended family and friends. I was encouraged to try my hand at all; a family band, joining the choir, visiting art museums and listening to my father’s classical music collection. At twelve years old, I received an artist’s set from my godmother for my birthday. I went off to my room amidst words of encouragement to try my hand with that first oil paint set.
Throughout my high school years and later at Kutztown University, where I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Art, I experimented with different mediums from woodworking to printmaking to life drawing. Today, my passion is pastels. Pastels, simply pigment and binder, deliver the purest and most robust color of any medium. My method involves using a sanded surface and starting with an underpainting of watercolor or oil wash. Then I apply the pastels on top in varying layers using bold strokes. The sanded surface can accept numerous layers; sometimes the pastel can be quite thick and other times I allow the underpainting to show through. The result is rich and luminous.  
My subject matter is quite diverse: landscapes, animals, cityscapes, nocturns….. Simply put, I like to paint images that I think are beautiful. I spend as much time as I can outside enjoying nature and am impelled to recreate the magnificence I see there with my pastels. I come home from vacations with a camera full of fodder to memorialize a point in my lifetime. Always an animal lover, I try to capture the personality of my subject in all of my animal portraits. Nocturns allow me to express my fascination of the mystery of the night; the play of light and shadow, the opportunity to start a story and let the viewer create an ending.  
  I am a member of many art groups and associations, including: Pastel Society of America, Chester County Art Association, The Artists Circle, Phila/Tri County Artists Equity Assn, Healing Art Works, and more. My work was accepted into the prestigious ‘Art of the State’ competition and exhibited at the Pennsylvania Museum in Harrisburg. In addition to the many honors and awards I have won, I am also represented by Strode’s Mill Gallery.