statement

My name is Judy Takács and I paint people.

My life goal is to find new and interesting people to paint and to find excuses to paint them. The flesh, the folds, the wrinkles and scars are fascinating to me. I delight in the details of a well worn face that has seen its share of action and experience.

My painting, "Judge, Jury and Executioner" is part of a series of paintings I created at my local Senior Center. This series is called, "The Solon Senior Project." Each Thursday I set up my easel in the lobby and painted a different senior citizen who posed for me. Their friends often came to watch the creative process, and it became a fun and lively social activity. Some were wonderful actors and could muster a wealth of expressions. Some had quiet grace and stillness. Many had inspiring stories of courage and resilience told with the pride of battles won and adversities survived. There was no self pity or whining in this group. Their struggles and their victories shared equal space in their histories; both contributing to lives well lived and hard earned wisdom.

It is this complexity and fun I believed I captured in my portrait of Marilyn as she acted for her starring role in my painting, "Judge, Jury and Executioner." In reality she is a gentle and graceful woman with the soul of an artist. I had many meaningful conversations with her during her modeling sessions.

bio

born: 1962, New York, New York

education

Cleveland Institute of Art, BFA 1986

selected awards/honors

Best in Show for my painting,"Right and Better Left Unsaid", Akron Society of Artists Juried Member's Show, 2012
Best in Show for my painting, "On the Cusp", Artists of Rubber City 22nd Annual Juried Show, 2012
Best in Show for my diptych, "Cracking up and Stillness", Valley Art Center 40th Annual Juried Show, 2011
Best in Show for my painting, "Robert's Enigmatic Beard", 2nd Annual May Show at Lakeland College, 2011

selected publications

Acadamy Graphic Communications, Inc., 10th Anniversary Edition, 52 Weeks 52 Works, AGC The Creative Advantage, 2012

selected solo or two-person exhibits

BAYarts: Chicks with Balls, Bay Village, Ohio, 2013
Solon Center for the Arts Gallery: The Solon Senior Project, Solon, Ohio 2012
Notre Dame College of Ohio: His, Hers and the Truth, South Euclid, Ohio 2011

selected group shows

BAYarts: Artists Painting Artists, Bay Village, Ohio 2012
BAYarts: Unbearable Lightness, Bay Village, Ohio, 2012
Valley Arts Center: Ruby, Ruby, All Things Red, Chagrin Falls, Ohio, 2012
Trinity Cathedral: Cleveland Artists Holiday Invitational Exhibition, Cleveland, Ohio 2011