www.loriputnam.com

Lori Putnam’s award-winning oil paintings are a demonstration of intelligent design, confident brushwork, and masterful color.  Her subject matter can be anything. “Seemingly ordinary moments and objects become meaningful when you express their beauty.” Lori says every work is like a “time capsule,” stating, “It’s about interpreting a moment, painting from life, capturing the light’s effects, and translating all of that to the canvas for others to experience.” A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Lori travels all over the world, painting small to medium-sized plein air sketches and finished works. She also creates large-scale paintings in her studio currently located in Franklin, Tennessee.

Although Lori has an interest in drawing and other art forms since she was very young, she considers herself self-taught, having studied independently, as an adult, with many of the nation’s best painters. Among them, Quang Ho, Scott Christensen, Kim English, and Michael Shane Neal are a few she considers her most influential. In 2008 and 2009, Lori traveled to Italy for more than seven months with the sole intention of study, and growth. During this time she painted almost 200 pieces from the southeastern Adriatic coastline to the northeastern Italian Riviera and many towns in between. Her intense work during this period brought a greater maturity to the paintings she creates today.

Lori is a member of, and has exhibited with, many respected organizations including the national and the eastern regional juried exhibitions of the Oil Painters of America (OPA), the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York City (SNYC) and the national American Impressionists Society (AIS) juried exhibition. She is currently serving as the Show Chair for the AIS 12th Annual National Juried Exhibition to be held in Carmel, California later this year. Lori is an active participant in numerous associations, including the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA), The Chestnut Group – plein air painters for the land, The Portrait Society of America (PSA), and the Southern Artist Registry. In 2008 Lori was awarded Signature Member status in International Plein Air Painters (IPAP) and the Plein Air Artist of Colorado (PAAC), both highly regarded, worldwide, plein air painting organizations; in 2009 she gained membership in the Salmagundi Club in New York City (SNYC); and in 2010 was invited to join the Plein Air Painters of the Southeast (PAP-SE). She has participated in several juried and invitational plein air events across the country from California to Maryland and all points in between, and recently won Wyoming, Florida, and Georgia. Her work is in the permanent collection at The Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland, the Jack Warner Collection, in private and corporate collections, and galleries worldwide. Lori’s paintings are featured in the book entitled, Painting North Carolina: Impressions in Plein Air, and in numerous issues of American Art Collector Magazine.

While it is countless hours and hard work that have made her part of an elite group of world-class artists, she credits her love of learning and dedication to the challenge, to her friend, mentor, and accomplished artist, Dawn Whitelaw. Lori finds it both a joy and a privilege to share her knowledge and talent with students through plein air and studio workshops across the United States and abroad.

EXHIBITIONS AND HONORS

(recent/current, selected; complete list available on request)
American Impressionists Society National Juried Exhibition, Show Chair, Carmel, CA, 2011
Plein Air Painters of the Southeast, Group Exhibition, Huntsville Museum of Art, 2011
“Art in the Open” Plein Air, Honored Guest, Wexford, Ireland, 2011
Eric Rhoads Publisher’s Invitational, “Paint the Adirondacks,” 2011
Randy Higbee, “6x6 Squared” Exhibition, 2011
Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, “Best of Plein Air” Exhibition, 2011
Callaway Gardens Plein Air Festival, Pine Mountain, GA, 2011
awarded First Place in the Quick Draw Competition
Juror and Judge for the Memphis Germantown Art League National Exhibition, 2011
American Impressionists Society National Juried Exhibition, Nashville, TN, 2010
Solo Exhibition, “Paintings from Life,” Marnie Sheridan Gallery, Nashville, TN, 2010
Juror and Judge for the 86th Annual Hoosier Salon, 2010 and the 87th Annual Hoosier Salon, 2011
Los Gatos Plein Air Festival, California, 2010, 2011
Plein Air Artists of Colorado Juried Exhibition, Denver, CO, 2010, 2011
Southeastern Regional Juried Plein Air Exhibition, Atlanta, GA, Award of Excellence, 2010
Salmagundi Club, (numerous member exhibitions), New York City, 2009 to present
Salmagundi Club Juried Non-Member Exhibition, New York City, NY, 2009
Door County Peninsula Plein Air Invitational, WI, 2009, 2010
Italian Life: all’aria aperta, solo exhibition, Nashville, TN, 2009
Oil Painters of America, Eastern Regional Juried Exhibition, Nashville, TN, 2009
Featured Artist, International Plein Air Painters, January 2009
Cheyene Juried Plein air Competition and Exhibit, Awarded both Artists’ Choice and Public’s Choice
at Deselms Fine Art, Wyoming, 2008, 2009
LeQuire Gallery, “Learning Green: A Different Appreciation of the Landscape,” four-man exhibit,
Nashville, TN, 2008
Kennebunkport Plein air Invitational, Maine, 2008, 2009
Florida’s Forgotten Coast Plein air Invitational, Apalachicola, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
awarded Honorable Mention in 2009 and 2010 Quick Draw Competition
Nicole’s Studio and Art Gallery, featured artist, Raleigh, NC, June 2008, 2009, and October 2010
Estes Park Juried Plein air Competition and Exhibit, Colorado, 2007, 2008, and 2009
San Luis Obispo Art Center, Juried Plein air Festival and Exhibit, CA, 2007
Centennial Art Center, three-man exhibit, Nashville, TN, 2007
River Gallery, three-man exhibit, Chattanooga, TN, 2007 and 2009
Oil Painters of America, National Juried Exhibition, Fredericksburg, TX, 2007
The Art Gallery at Belle Meade Plantation, solo exhibit, “Works by Lori Putnam,” Nashville, TN, 2007
The Art Academy Museum, Easton MD (purchase for permanent collection), 2006
Plein Air Easton! Juried competition and exhibit, Maryland, 2006


PUBLICATIONS

(recent selected; complete list available on request)
American Art Collector Magazine, “Everlasting Objects” January 2011
American Art Collector Magazine, “Dynamic Impressions: AIS Annual Juried Exhibition” October 2010
American Art Collector Magazine, “Exhibition Preview, Grounded in Beauty” August 2010
American Art Collector Magazine, “Oil Painters of America, Making History” June 2010
American Art Collector Magazine, “Fresh Takes on Still Life” April 2010
American Art Collector Magazine, “Finding Beauty in the Ordinary,” August, 2009
Painting North Carolina: Impressions en Plein Air, published by Creative Pursuits, November 2008
American Artist, myamericanartist.com, “Participating in Plein Air Events,” February 2008
Nashville Arts Magazine, “The Chestnut Group, plein air painters for the land,” April 2007
American Artist, “Quick Sketches,” February 2007

ASSOCIATIONS

American Impressionist Society, Show Chair

Laguna Plein Air Painters Association
Portrait Society of America
Plein Air Painters of the Southeast
Plein Air Artists of Colorado, Signature Member
California Art Club
Salmagundi Club NYC
International Plein Air Painters, Signature Member
Metropolitan Nashville Artist Registry
Oil Painters of America
The Chestnut Group plein air painters for the land

For a list of gallery locations, please visit www.loriputnam.com