WENATCHEE — Arts and entertainment reporter Jessica Drake interviewed artist Cyndi Noyd by email in late January, while Noyd was traveling. An exhibit of Noyd’s artwork is for sale and on public display at the Pybus Art Alley, 3 N. Worthen St., Wenatchee, for the month. The interview has been lightly edited.
Wenatchee World: When and where do you teach art classes?
Cyndi Noyd: I have been teaching at The River Academy for around 15 years. I teach K-12 Art Studio. I also teach an Art Honors and elective class. I have the privilege of creating my own curriculum, which I base in classical drawing/painting skills along their history timeline (each grade focuses on an era. For example, second graders study Egypt, so many of my projects will have some element of Egyptian art and art history intertwined. The students love it, and it gives the art a sense of time and place.
WW: How is your program with The School of Atelier Arts/The Florence Academy of Art going?
CN: My MA studio program is going well. I have completed the first two years. The first two years are either online or on St Peters University Campus in New Jersey. The program is for teachers, ranging from elementary through graduate school teachers. The focus is to teach the teachers the methods of the Ateliers. Ateliers are schools or workshops that teach classical drawing and painting, along the lines of Michelangelo, Da Vinci and Van Gogh. The atelier movement is growing — check out Juillette Aristides, out of Seattle. Or for more info on the school, check with The School of Atelier Arts or The Florence Academy of Art. And, yes, I will be completing my final six weeks this summer, in Florence, Italy at the Academy.
WW: How would you describe your studio practice or the spaces where you like to paint the most?
CN: My current work is done in oil, on board. I do enjoy the way the oil sits on the boards and can be manipulated, much differently than on a more textured cloth canvas. In some of the work, I’ve used charcoal or pastel, it adds a texture that I can’t make with the oil.
This series for Pybus is my observations, wondering, enjoying the interesting colors of our hillsides. I wanted to capture a few glimpses of the change in color, with the seasons. I will look at the landscape, and be caught up in the color, light and shadow, not the details of the plants and soils. The work is somewhat abstract and embracing of the entire scene as if through a blurred lens.
I also work in acrylic, watercolor, and sumi ink on rice paper. The rice paper collages are very much hands on. I begin with an abstract landscape done in bright colors for the underpainting. Then I collage rice papers that I’ve dyed in various grays and textures. The rice paper is glued on and pushed around to create texture. Some of the underpainting will show through. Finally, I add details of landscape with black sumi ink. I have a work hanging at Off The Hill tasting room in Pybus Public Market. Check it out, look closely, and you’ll see meandering roads, orchards, lakes, etc.
WW: Where has your art been exhibited and how often do you sell artwork?
CN: I’ve been able to show locally several times at both Cafe Mela and Lemolo Cafe and Deli, and Pybus. Both have been successful, mostly smaller more graphic works like my Chukar series (Pybus) and my La Farfalle (“Butterflies,” at Lemolo). You can find my work at noyd.studio or email me for an appointment to see current works.
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