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Arts & Entertainment

Workhouse Artist of the Week: Chris Monette Appleton

Drawings from a month in France

Chris Monette Appleton’s month long art escape to Dinan, France, resulted in a collection of pen and ink drawings titled Brittany Drawings, now on display in Building W-4 at the Workhouse Arts Center.

Appleton and her friend Cheryl Parsons were housed at Les Amis de la Grande Vigne, former home and gardens of painter Yvonne Jean-Haffen (1895-1993), who donated her estate as a museum and artist’s studio to the city of Dinan.  “Cheryl was awarded one of twelve month-long residencies given each year by a committee, and she invited me to accompany her last September,” said Appleton. “It was so beautiful there.”

Appleton said when she arrived in Dinan, she immediately began painting.  “I wasn’t sure exactly what I’d do, but I soon switched from painting to drawing because it was more portable for all the side trips we took,” said Appleton. At times she drew on site or in a café. “I was interested in drawing what was in front of me,” she said.  “Many times I’d drag home items from our adventures, including trips to the grocery, and group them to draw,” she said.  “I chose objects that meant something to me, that reflected a connection with the locale.”  

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The California native moved to the Metropolitan DC area when her husband’s job brought them east years ago. She's studied fine arts at Art Center in Los Angeles; El Camino College; California State University Long Beach; University of California at Los Angeles; The Art League School in Alexandria, Virginia; and with numerous nationally known artists in the U.S.  “Even as a small child I was doing art,” said Appleton. “My parents noticed and encourage me, and it helped me develop my own identity as an artist,” she said.  

Appleton’s mother was an artist who designed and drew. “She never did art professionally, she never had a studio, but she designed homes and floor tiles, and drew all my paper dolls and their clothes,” said Appleton. "She influenced me."

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Before the Workhouse, Appleton didn't have a studio outside her home. “As the Workhouse was coming along I’d read about it,” she said. “I’d always had a studio at home, but I was interested in a full-time art place where I could interact with a community of artists,” she said. Appleton said working in her studio is more conducive to getting art done. “Being in a studio and around other artists definitely keeps you focused and keeps your mind in art and about art,” she said. 

Appleton said that she has always liked to draw. She participates in other mediums, too, including mosaics, collage, and painting with oils, acrylics and watercolor. “I still can’t give up any of the mediums,” she laughed.  For that reason, she enjoys working in mixed media. Figure drawing, however, is her favorite. “I love the human form, the lines, the movement in the body, the challenge of getting it right, and the gratification of seeing your improvement,” she said. 

After the show at the Workhouse, Brittany Drawings will be shown May 8 - 28 along with Cheryl Parson's paintings from Dinan, France, at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Reston, 1625 Wiehle Avenue. The reception for the Reston show is at 1pm on Sunday May 8.   

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