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<\/p>\n<\/p>\nKent resident Cheryl Long’s “Snowy Owl, Nisqually Delta” watercolor was selected by jury for the 2012 Puget Sound Bird Fest Poster Contest.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The award comes with a check for $200. Bird Fest started in 2005 as a celebration of birds and nature.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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“My focus as a painter this summer is birds and nature so we were a match made in heaven,” Long said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Long is a watercolor artist\/educator. She specializes in painting Pacific Northwest birds.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Long has lived in Kent for 17 years and has the Pacific Northwest all her life.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“I spent my teen years in Eastern Washington (Wenatchee) and there began a lifelong fascination with desert landscapes,” she said. “I started to paint seriously by age 12.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Long attended Washington State University as a fine arts major and graduated from the Burnley School of Professional Art in Seattle. She lives and works from home with her husband, copper artist Thomas Long.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
“I am a breast cancer survivor of eight years and I live in gratitude,” Long said. “Inspiration comes from a lifetime of daily spiritual practice and energy healing work called Attunement. My paintings express my sense of wonder and also the concern that I feel for nature and for human life on this planet. It is my utmost desire to share both the delight and responsibility with those who view my paintings.”<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Long’s paintings and prints are widely collected in the United States and Canada. Her art is represented by the Raven Gallery in Eugene, Ore.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
She teaches watercolor classes to adults in Maple Valley, and classes resume Sept. 11. She is also a member of the Northwest Watercolor Society and a member of the Poverty Bay Painters Group.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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