PENELOPE GRAYDON

                                          Penelope 1954

     Ottawa artist Penelope Graydon was born and raised in Ottawa, Ontario.  She married her husband Ernest in 1965.  They have three children and five grandchildren. 

     Penelope's path to art has not been traditional.  She credits self training and motivation coupled with the support of her family as great importance to achieving her success.  She also credits her artistic growth to award winning artist Margaret Carter Baumgaertner of La Crosse, Wisconsin, nationally recognized painter of traditional portraits, Pauline Bradshaw, of Barrie, Ontario, a nationally acclaimed artist of paintings and drawings in the classical tradition, and Romanie Manuel of Ottawa, Ontario, award winning artist of portraiture and figuritive paintings.

     Penelope is a juried member of the Portrait Society of Canada and member of the Portrait Society of America.

     In 2002 Penelope attended a Charcoal/Sauce workshop given by Margaret Carter Baumgaertner.  Sauce (saw-oose), is an old Russian medium used by the great Russian portrait artist Ivanovich Kramskoy 1837-1887.  Baumgaertner brought Sauce to the United States of America, thereby reviving this wonderful medium.

     Penelope works with a limited Sauce palette, however, this does not affect  the charm of her portraits.  Sauce is similar to charcoal, conte and pastel but has qualities uniquely its own.   It comes in black, white and a few colours. 

      Penelope composes her subjects from photographs using the mood expressed in the photograph  as the catalyst to create a portrait in a sensitive and accurate manner.  She works with layers of dry and wet Sauce.  As Penelope brings the portrait to completion the wet Sauce is used to infuse the portrait with a painterly technique.

     Penelope refers to her work as drawing/painting because of the thought process and technique employed.  She has the ability of turning a family photograph into a treasured work of art.

     Penelope's series "The Way It Was" includes portraits from the 1800's and 1900's.  Included in this series is a First World War Soldier which was painted in honour of all Soldiers.  The Soldier was her grandmother's brother.  Click on GALLERY to view this series.