Linda Echterhoff
Through my art I convey personal perceptions and interpretations of my life experiences as influenced by the contrasting dynamics of nature and natural elements, and urbanism. My latest series, Sentimental Despair, is inspired by the artwork of similar title, Analysis of the Rose as Sentimental Despair, by artist Cy Twombly, who in this work embraced conceptions of nature dominated by its inevitable demise. Twombly, an American artist well known for his large-scale, freely scribbled, calligraphic-style graffiti paintings, on solid fields of mostly gray, tan, or off-white colors, is best known for blurring the line between drawing and painting.
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In Sentimental Despair I dialogue between the natural and man-made worlds, as I combine elements of both, eluding to the transience of life. There is a transcendence of the mundane and folk, and dead or dying into a manifestation of high art. Transformations into bronze provide a sense of lasting presence.My interest in fabric as a fine art form began while I studied sculpture at the Glassell School of Art, the teaching wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. There I met well known artist Joe Havel, included in the 2000 Biennial Exhibition of the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. While at Glassell, I was offered a private visit to Havel’s studio. I became awed by Havel’s use of large pieces of fabric such as curtains, drapes, tablecloths, and sheets in his freestanding monumental bronze castings.As is Havel, I am drawn to fabric, particularly crocheted lace, not only because of the inherent formal issues of these recycled pieces of fabric, but also the direct, straightforward nature of the subject matter. Crochet represents sentimentality; a near-dying craft of a by-gone era, when a woman’s place was in the home, as caregiver. Some of the crocheted elements I incorporate are of my own hand, others are of my elders’ hands, my maternal grandmother and mother; still others are of unknown sources. There is a conveyance of our forefathers’ importance in creating this future.The white patination subverts the medium, bronze, and gives the work an ethereal, almost weightless quality uncommon to most bronze sculpture. This choice purposely focuses the viewer to consider the object’s positive and negative spaces, without influence by color. Each of my works is unique, intuitively a personal reflective experience to be interactively shared and contemplated by others. |
Bio
I was born in Houston, Texas, and raised in The City of Bellaire, Texas, a small city of homes tucked within the sprawling metropolis of Houston. As a youngster, art, nature and play were my passions. I spent many hours playing with neighborhood friends and enjoying learning about new subjects. I always excelled at school, in every subject I studied. At that time, art was a strong part of the educational curriculum in the Houston Independent School District. Throughout grade school I was taught appreciation for the arts; visual, music and theater. I remember visiting with fellow classmates on numerous occasions The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFHA), Houston Symphony and Houston Grand Opera. To this day, I vividly remember enjoying Madame Butterfly, The Nutcracker, and the extensive art collection of MFAH. While I attended Bellaire High School, my Advanced Spanish teacher continued to expose me to the arts, specifically Spanish culture, literature, music and the visual arts. I fell in love with Picasso’s work, and especially admired his ability to work in both 2-D and 3-D and his capacity to evolve, explore and develop new styles throughout his lifetime. The art seed, the creative kernel was planted in my mind at a very young age.
It was my maternal grandmother who first noticed and appreciated my artistic talent and encouraged me to pursue art. Surprisingly, but not uncommonly, the practicality instilled through my German heritage led me to earn advanced degrees, not in fine art, but in chemical engineering from Rice University and an MBA from Houston Baptist University. “My father was an amazingly innovative mechanical engineer – primarily self-taught. My mother encouraged me to study engineering as well, saying I ‘should become a lady engineer’. At that time there were few females going into the engineering field. Art was a strong interest and love, but when I was young I sought financial security and pursued my need to improve the world using my math and science skills.” The early death of my mother to cancer when I was in high school exposed me to the fragility of life, something I was not prone to forget. That experience left me with the resolve to become self-reliant with a solid, predictable career. My mother’s suffering and loss has also had a very strong influence on my art, especially my Eve series.
While pursuing my 27-year career in the natural gas monetization industry, I married my husband, Lal Echterhoff and began to encourage him to study art with me, knowing he also had untapped artistic talent. So we both enrolled and studied art for five years at The Glassell School of Art, the teaching wing of MFAH. The primary focus of my art studies has been drawing, 3-D design and sculpture, including the methods of lost wax bronze casting and direct stone carving. In 2005, Lal and I retired from corporate America and moved to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, an endearing place that holds many fond family vacation memories, to pursue our full-time art careers.
C u r r i c u l u m V i t a e
EDUCATION
B.S. and M. in Chemical Engineering, Rice University
M.B.A., Houston Baptist University
Glassell School of Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (5 years)
Apprenticeship with master blacksmith Michael Selinsky (1 year)
AWARDS
2008 First Place, Sculpture, for “Support System”, 12th Annual “Lines into Shapes” Art Competition, September 19 – October 5, 2008, Art Center of Estes Park, Estes Park, Colorado (Jurors: Pat Saunders-White, Kathleen Theriault and Leo Weber)
2007 Juror’s Award for “Support System”, Old Firehouse Art Center Annual Juried Show, “Not to Scale”, September 14 – October 20, 2007, Old Firehouse Art Center, Longmont, Colorado (Jurors: Susan Knickle and Pam Gonacha)
2006 Honorable Mention for “Seed Pod”, 2006 Gateway to Imagination: A National Juried Art Competition, May 6 – July 15, 2006, Farmington Museum, Farmington, New Mexico (Juror: Jill R. Chancey)
2006 Honorable Mention for “Seed Pod”, 31st Annual Juried Exhibit, January 6 – 27, 2006, Durango Arts Center, Durango, Colorado (Juror: Andrew John Cecil)
EXHIBITIONS
2009
6th Annual Juried Exhibition: A Regional Art Competition of the Four Corners States, June 25 – July 21, 2009, Pagosa Springs Arts Council, Town Park Gallery, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
2008
“The Expressionists”, Invitational Five-person Show (Lal Echterhoff, Linda Echterhoff, Don Sayers, Anthony Steventon and Kathleen Steventon), November 14 – December 20, 2008, Old Firehouse Art Center, Longmont, Colorado
“Nature in Abstraction”, Invitational Four-person Show (Lal Echterhoff, Linda Echterhoff, Anthony Steventon and Kathleen Steventon), October 24 – November 19, 2008, Fort Lewis College, Art Gallery, Durango, Colorado
12th Annual “Lines into Shapes” Art Competition, September 19 – October 5, 2008, Art Center of Estes Park, Estes Park, Colorado (Jurors: Pat Saunders-White, Kathleen Theriault and Leo Weber)
Artist Member Curated Exhibition, June 3 – 29, 2008, Steamboat Springs Arts Council, Depot Art Center, Steamboat Springs, Colorado
“Abstractions on Nature”, Invitational Four-person Show (Lal Echterhoff, Linda Echterhoff, Anthony Steventon and Kathleen Steventon), March 4 – April 13, 2008, Steamboat Springs Arts Council, Depot Art Center, Steamboat Springs, Colorado
2007
“Contemporary Show”, Invitational Four-person Show, October 4 – 24, 2007, Pagosa Springs Arts Council, Town Park Gallery, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
From Our Perspective: A National Women’s Art Exhibition, September 20 – October 12, 2007, Oakland Community College Womencenter, Farmington Hills, Michigan (Juror: Gretchen Otto)
Old Firehouse Art Center Annual Juried Show, “Not to Scale”, September 14 – October 20, 2007, Old Firehouse Art Center, Longmont, Colorado (Jurors: Susan Knickle and Pam Gonacha)
Evergreen Art Open 1, May 3 – 31, 2007, Center for the Arts – Evergreen, Evergreen, Colorado (Juror: Ivar Zeile)
Faces of Woman 17th Annual International Juried Art Exhibition, March 23 – April 21, 2007, Las Vegas Arts Council, Las Vegas, New Mexico (Juror: Barbara Lucero Sand)
Colorado Forge Inc. Artist’s Soireé, April 20 – 21, 2007, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Women in the Arts Invitational Group Show, March 1 – 31, 2007, Old Pass Gallery, Raton, New Mexico
2006
From Our Perspective: A National Women’s Art Exhibition, September 21 – October 13, 2006, Oakland Community College Womencenter, Farmington Hills, Michigan (Juror: Pi Benio)
Celebrate the Equine Spirit, Group Exhibition, September 8 – 10, 2006, Wild Spirit Gallery, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
Spotlight on Art 15th Annual Juried Art Show, August 26 – September 30, 2006, Breckenridge Fine Arts Center, Breckenridge, Texas (Juror: Scott Myers)
2006 Gateway to Imagination: A National Juried Art Competition, May 6 – July 15, 2006, Farmington Museum, Farmington, New Mexico (Juror: Jill R. Chancey)
Annual Members’ Exhibit, “CRITTERS”, March 3 – 30, 2006, Durango Arts Center, Durango, Colorado
“Primarily Found Objects”, an Open Group Show, February 18 – March 15, 2006, SHY RABBIT, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
31st Annual Juried Exhibit, January 6 – 27, 2006, Durango Arts Center, Durango, Colorado (Juror: Andrew John Cecil)
Artists’ Invitational & Open Juried Exhibition, November 19 – December 17, 2005, SHY RABBIT, Pagosa Springs, Colorado (Juror: SHY RABBIT Selection Committee)
2004
Foundry Group Exhibition, Winter 2004, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas
PUBLICATIONS
2008
Pagosa Springs SUN, A&E Preview Section, Echterhoff work selected for international art exhibition, August 21, 2008
2007
Pagosa Springs Daily Post, Echterhoff joins PSAC Board, December 7, 2007
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Linda Echterhoff joins PSAC Board, December 13, 2007
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Pagosa artist’s sculpture receives accolades at Colorado exhibition, November 29, 2007
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Echterhoff sculpture selected for national exhibit, August 30, 2007
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Pagosa artist’s sculpture selected for Colorado exhibition, August 23, 2007
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Works by Lal and Linda Echterhoff in Evergreen Art Open 1, April 12, 2007
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Pagosa sculptor Echterhoff included in New Mexico show, March 8, 2007
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Linda Echterhoff: A ‘talented, progressing artist’, February 8, 2007
2006
From Our Perspective: A National Women’s Art Exhibition Event Catalog, September 21 – October 13, 2006, Oakland Community College Womencenter, Farmington Hills, Michigan
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Pagosan’s sculpture selected for national women’s art exhibition, September 14, 2006
Spotlight on Art 15th Annual Juried Art Show Event Catalog, August 26 – September 30, 2006, Breckenridge Fine Arts Center, Breckenridge, Texas
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Pagosa artist’s sculptures selected for Texas Competition, July 20, 2006
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Echterhoff wins award, May 25, 2006
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Two Pagosa artists in Farmington national show, By Leanne Goebel, May 11, 2006
2006 Gateway to Imagination: A National Juried Art Competition Event Catalog, May 6 – July 15, 2006, Farmington Museum, Farmington, New Mexico
Durango Arts Center Newsletter, 30th Annual Juried Show Winners, Winter 2006
The Four Corners Business Journal, 30th Annual Juried Art Exhibit opens at Durango Art Center, By Lisa Meerts, January 16 – February 5, 2006
The Durango Herald, Durango Arts Center juried show impressive, By Patricia Miller, January 10, 2006
2005
Pagosa.com, Outstanding Art: Shy Rabbit’s contemporary art show wraps up this Saturday, By Bill Hudson, December 16, 2005
The Pagosa Springs SUN, Preview Section, Groundbreaking Show is Inspirational, By Leanne Goebel, December 8, 2005
2002
The Glassell School of Art Fall 2002 Course Schedule
MEMBERSHIPS
President, Board of Directors Pagosa Springs Arts Council
Member Manitou Springs THE BUSINESS OF ART CENTER
Pagosa Springs Arts Council
Steamboat Springs Arts Council
GALLERIES
Wild Spirit Gallery, Pagosa Springs, Colorado
COLLECTIONS
Private Collections
Colorado
Connecticut
Louisiana
New Mexico
Texas
Linda Echterhoff can be contacted at:
lindaechterhoff@centurytel.net
(970) 946-3693
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