Please introduce yourself and briefly describe your art.
I’m Constance McLennan– not “McLellan” –but I prefer “Connie.” I smear colored mud on cloth or wood using a stick with hairs on the end. (I’m a painter, mostly oil.)
What led you to be an artist and to share your art in Auburn Old Town Gallery?
I was an advertising and children’s book illustrator for many years and began painting more seriously about ten years ago when the commercial work ended. I showed online on Daily Paintworks for several years, at a gallery in Salinas for a year, at High Hand Gallery for 16 months, and joined AOTG last December. I’m a member of the “put-all-your-eggs-in-one-basket-and-watch-that-basket” school and find Auburn a great community for the arts.
Where are you originally from?
I lived in Yreka, CA, from birth through high school, then attended my first year of college in Stockton. I have lived in Sacramento and then Placer County ever since (a very long time.)
What did you want to be when you were younger?
At various times I thought I would become a surgeon, a singer, or an attorney. But after majoring in journalism in college, in 1978, I toured San Francisco’s Academy of Art, immediately decided to study illustration, and never looked back.
Tell us about a compliment that you’ve received that you’re most proud of.
After many years of following art direction and carrying out commercial assignments meant to sell products, I am complimented and proud every single time a buyer spends hard-earned, personal funds on a painting I created on my own just because they like it.
What’s one thing that has made you smile recently?
While waiting for a friend in the lobby of a Texas movie theater, an older man I didn’t know told me I looked nice. He followed with, “I know that takes a lot of work.”!!!
