Pratt, Terrence

My primary artistic goal is to try to capture, in paintings and drawings, my experience of this Central Virginia area where I have lived since 1977. I love the beauty and excitement of the places and the energy of the people in this area.

Acrylic on canvas and graphite on paper have been my primary media. Many of my subjects have been portraits of people — portraiture was my first love in art. More recently I have been painting primarily landscapes and cityscapes. My art tends to follow and focus on the people and places where I have been engaged in activities, such as hiking in Shenandoah National Park, swing dancing at the Municipal Arts Center, paddling the James River, visiting the Charlottesville City Market, watching a play at the Live Arts theater, drinking wine at a local winery, or listening to jazz at a local bar. You will see samples of all these in my art.

My adventure into “mark making” began relatively late in life. I was in my fifties after a long career as a professor and writer in the field of computer science when I first began to delve in depth into the making of art. My primary artistic training was at the Corcoran School of Art and Design in Washington, D.C. in the 1990s. From 2004-06, I ventured into portraiture at my Laughing Lion Studio and Gallery on Water Street in downtown Charlottesville. From 2006-08 I maintained a display space at the Crossroads Art Center in Richmond. From 2014-17 I was a member of the Palette Art Gallery group in Stanardsville, Virginia. My studio is now located in downtown Charlottesville.

Starting in 2015, I became interested in the potential of giclée print-making using the new fine art papers and inkjet printing technologies becoming available to artists. I partnered with my son to start Shenandoah Fine Art, a small business dedicated to designing and making the best in fine art prints. I now divide my time between painting and print-making.