CityView Magazine

“Sometimes I will turn to my sketch book and use something in it as an inspiration to create a larger projection from it,” said Woehr. “I try to incorporate the drawing into the painting and blend them together, but my drawings can be very different than the finished painting.” Woehr said she does not need solitude when working on her creations. Sometimes she has music on in the background and other times, depending on the stage of the piece, she likes to have company around to talk to while she paints. “I skate the line between controlled and uncontrolled,” Woehr said. “I don’t like having things that are untitled,” she said, noting that from the start she likes to refer to each of her pieces by name. Names of some of her recent paintings include “Fresh Rain,” which relates to how she feels after the rain and “First Saturday,” which she painted to deal with her emotions on the first weekend after her husband deployed. She said her paintings often represent something she was experiencing at the time she created the piece or represent a stage in her life. She also likes to obscure her signature somewhere different on each painting. While she has experimented with Woehr considers her art to be intuitive and said she starts small and waits until it evolves. Above | “Ascending Journey” graces the wall of her home. Right | This expansive piece, “Persistence of Flight” covers one wall. different mediums, Woehr said she prefers oil paintings for large canvases and often uses other solutions with the oils to create a layered effect. Recently she began using clayboard, a panel with a clay surface that enables her to scratch into it or draw on it, instead of oils. She has also been working more with water colors since she is currently pregnant and should not be exposed to harmful fumes. Among her favorite artists and biggest influences are Georges Seurrat, James Rosenquist, Romare Bearden and Jasper Johns, but she’s quick to add, “I’ve learned and loved so many artists, it’s a shame to call any ‘your favorite’.” Perhaps Woehr’s success in selling her work and being hired for commissions is due in part to understanding what potential buyers experience when they are shopping for art to purchase. “When you find that piece, it’s like falling in love. You can’t get it out of your mind,” Woehr said. CV 28 | Winter • 2010/2011

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