The journey of Arleta Pech-artist.

Born to Melvin and Chesta Glasco in Illinois.

Both sides of  my family are from Scottish decent- Family names Adams or Glasco. 

As an only child, I grew up on a farm in southern Illinois. With few peers to play with,

drawing was an activity that came naturally to me. My most vivid memories are of sitting

in the apple trees watching the light play across the blossoms. 

sitting with their art work. I new right then that "I wanted to do this"

even though I didn't know how. 

with layers of color, this was to become a signature of my style, for each medium I worked in. 

I used the mid 70's to refine my skills and I read every art book I could get my hands on.

By the time my first son was in kindergarten art had become a full-time passion. 

I painted every extra moment I could get, and many times my boys played under my 

painting table, crashing their toy trucks into the legs of the table. But most of all

I started to dream about being Nationally Known as an artist.

If you create art, you eventually find your muse. For me it was floral 

images, as they reflected the light and allowed me to grow and see

how to create more luminosity in these floral images.

I started entering local competitions and winning 

a few awards. With paintings starting to sell, it was the encouragement I needed

to try for bigger goals and to dream the impossible dream of my work reaching national

exposure. To touch people with art is to share the love.

"Cluster Of Peony" 1988 Private collection

This is the fourth top watercolor show in the country with over 3000 entries the show

only hangs 125 paintings. "Cluster Of Peony" was one of the award winners in the

1988 show. After acceptance into this show seven times, artists are awarded with a

signature membership. I attained this goal in 1995.

Cinnamon Teal, this small gallery in Connecticut would play a big role in my career.

  "Lavender & Lace" 1988 private collection

It was during this time that American Artist Magazine ran a National Talent Search. 

I entered, but didn't win a spot in the magazine. But behind the scenes, 

Greenwich Workshop, a publishing agent representing many artists, was looking at

the entries and picked my work for consideration. I was thrilled since I knew this was

a great opportunity. But alas, the company could not decide, and left me wondering

for over nine months. 

to my work receiving international exposure though Mill Pond Press galleries.

 "Lady of The Evening" 1989 private collection

Mill Pond decided very quickly that they would sign me in 1989 and reproduce my large

flower images. This is a heady experience and can really shake an artist to be vaulted into 

this much exposure in such a short time frame. Every original that was available sold.

painting a few lace pieces. Mr. Lewin, the owner of Mill Pond, did not like my "Tablecloths". 

Then One of the print editions of a lace original sold out. Mr. Lewin then sent me an entire box 

of antique laces. Why lace? It's part of that passion and love I express in my paintings and 

for me it speaks volumes of my love for my grandmother who taught me to crochet lace.

well organized by Natures Scene, a distributor who works in conjunction with Mill Pond Press.

I learned on this tour, what my smile quota was....ten days. After

that I needed to tape my mouth into the smile position, and I missed my studio and family. 

I have lost count there have been so many. The states I have been in are,

CT, RI, VT, NJ, NY, NC, SC, FL, TX, OH, MI, IL, MN, CO, WA, OR, CA. Many of these

locations I have been back to many times, developing friendships such as Tony at Cardinal

Art Gallery in Vernon, NJ, David and Judy Simpson of Germanton Art Gallery in North Carolina, 

and Gallery One in Mentor, Ohio had many shows for me and have been there for 13 years.  

response to the article, they asked me if I would be interested in doing a book on my paintings. 

This was a scary idea for me, since I doodled though English class in school, so writing is not

one of my strong suits. But when a door opens, walk though it and do your best. I started writing

and painting for the book in early 1996. It would be released in 1998.

After the magazine article, there were inquires of, "Would I teach?" This allowed me to do 

one of my favorite things. Share information and my passion about art and the creative process 

with other artists. So many artists wanted to attend that we had to do a second seminar a month later. 

I continue to teach watercolor seminars around the world. 

  Thank you, to everyone who purchased a copy. 

Books take over a year to write and to complete the paintings. When it's finally released it is a great

feeling. You catch yourself looking for it in bookstores and pulling it out of the stacks just

to see how real it feels. The hardbound version has since sold out with the paperback

version released in 2003.

In Cleveland in 1998,  It was an NBC Saturday morning news program. I will not tell you here that, 

I was in anyway prepared for this event. It was filmed live and they would come back to my painting 

at the top of every hour for about 5 minutes. The funny part is they wanted me to paint on an

easel and with watercolor that can be challenging. So when the camera was on my brush work, 

I would just pretend to be painting-then drop the painting to my lap and paint like crazy, before

the camera would come back around again. It was an experience I won't soon forget. 

My images have been placed on needlework kits, plates, cards, and even jigsaw puzzles.

So, if I get bored with myself I can put my self back together again. 

"Garden Daydream" 1999 private collection

Throughout my early career of floral originals, a few garden pieces would emerge.

Unlike the large flowers, these originals were very large, up to five feet and took months to create. 

The fun part was they were totally from my imagination, like "Garden Daydream". It was 

my dream garden where the flowers bloom at will regardless of seasons.

This was in conjunction with The American Artist Magazine article in Oct. 2000

"Rhapsody In White" in the 2000 Realism Show. Collection of the artist.

I was represented by Mill Pond for over 12 years. However companies change or are sold to

new owners, which was the case with Mill Pond.

In 2001, an opportunity to work with the Hadley Companies began with my first release

scheduled for Sept. 2001. This is also the time that I started a

new series of originals such as "Hydrangea Melody.

In Sept. 2002, I began experimenting with Egg Tempera, and it has opened a new area of

my work, that has luminous rich color with the transparency that I loved about watercolor. 

I took a break from my antique subjects in 2004. I worked with glass objects most of the year

and even reflected these on to a mirrored surface. This series of originals are explorations of the light 

passing though the colored glass and the reflections. It's always about luminosity in my paintings in one

form or another. 

Birds in Art is one of the top museum shows in the country, and I have known of this show 

for many years. But I'm a still life artist and the show was devoted to bird art, mostly wildlife. 

Then one year I realized the Woodson Museum www.lywam.org was much more 

open minded about what type of bird imagery they would allow. So the inspired idea 

for a painting of glass birds tickled my imagination. "Birds Of A Feather" was 

just to much fun to paint. It was accepted for show and the 2004 museum tour of Birds in Art. 

"Birds Of a Feather" 2004 Egg Tempera 

"Quackers" 13" x 19" 2005 Egg Tempera

This inspired piece came from watching my grandchildren playing with complicated toys. 

So the idea to paint simple old toys became a quest, and even the old wooden blocks 

that spell out "Quack" was found in antique stores. 

The little bird to the left came all the way from New Zealand where I found it in an antique shop. 

for www.SmithKramer.com   This touring museum exhibit will run for two years starting in 2007. 

"Best of Realism Show" at the Winstanley-Roark Fine Arts

International Realism Guild at the Manitou Galleries Sept. 2006.

to be released by Northlight books on October 2009.

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