Events and Shows
Events and Shows
Events & Shows
Recent Oil on Paper
Red-winged Blackbirds
Ink Washes... mostly outdoors
Projects
Great Lakes LandscapesAround the world's largest inland lakes, mixed wood Forest and Prairie transpose
the pulse of generations. |
Boston Fenway GardensOlmsted's "Emerald Necklace" of green space around Boston blooms in 500 unique gardens. Lounging is encouraged.
|
Gardens and Plants"I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing, that the light is everything, that it is more than the sum of each
flawed blossom rising and falling. And I do.” ~ Aldo Leopold |
Artwork
Why Art.
The landscape does a dance, puts on a show and begs to be painted. I've got my eye on the motion of plants and ecosystems – the cluster of the species and the motion of the leaves and water, the design of the flowers and foliage... the sun playing with shadows, foggy or parched; the paths of the seeds seeking home. For people who love a place as I do, my impressions are meant to share a favorite place.
I use gestural marks, fluid strokes and chimerical layers to capture the inherent motion in a place. A focal point is usually distributed like the riddle on where to rest your gaze, like the transient nature of the plants. This art lives in a place between observation and meditation. Pushing carbon dust, graphite, and ink and pulling oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel and pixels, I move between digital and analog. The interpretation of a place through my brush is about how a place is in constant motion at any time of day, time of year, time of life.
These artworks are created in the wake of an exciting thirty-year career spanning network TV, corporate audio visual animation, design and art direction of interactive CD ROM and DVD productions, film, video, interface design and planning of travel and navigation software for Rand McNally and mobile strategy for HSBC, T-Mobile, and Motorola. I am happy to be back to painting.
I use gestural marks, fluid strokes and chimerical layers to capture the inherent motion in a place. A focal point is usually distributed like the riddle on where to rest your gaze, like the transient nature of the plants. This art lives in a place between observation and meditation. Pushing carbon dust, graphite, and ink and pulling oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel and pixels, I move between digital and analog. The interpretation of a place through my brush is about how a place is in constant motion at any time of day, time of year, time of life.
These artworks are created in the wake of an exciting thirty-year career spanning network TV, corporate audio visual animation, design and art direction of interactive CD ROM and DVD productions, film, video, interface design and planning of travel and navigation software for Rand McNally and mobile strategy for HSBC, T-Mobile, and Motorola. I am happy to be back to painting.
Bio
Polly Greathouse is a multidisciplinary artist whose work bridges classical painting techniques, digital innovation, and a deep connection to the natural world. Trained in traditional methods at the University of Illinois, Polly began her career in animation and interactive design, playing a pioneering role in shaping early graphical user interfaces for computers and mobile devices. This fusion of structure and invention continues to inform her visual language—balancing clarity with expressive, intuitive gesture.
Primarily working in oil on paper, Polly’s paintings are known for their dynamic brushwork and abstract expressionist energy. Her technique moves fluidly between delicate, watercolor-like transparencies and rich, layered impasto. She often contrasts graceful marks with bold, Sumi-e-inspired strokes in black and white, punctuated by vivid flashes of color. Her practiced eye for light, shadow, and motion gives each piece a sense of presence and immediacy.
Polly’s art centers on nature—not as a backdrop, but as an active force. Her compositions reflect ecosystems in motion: shaped by weather, light, and seasonal cycles. Rejecting a single focal point, she invites viewers into immersive, multi-directional landscapes that echo the experience of being in the wild—where everything is alive and interconnected.
In addition to traditional media, Polly integrates digital tools into her practice. Her digital works extend her painterly vocabulary, allowing new forms of gesture and rhythm to emerge. Whether on screen, paper or canvas, her work honors the same core themes: transformation, attention, and the energy of living systems.
For over twenty years, Polly has contributed to the northern Illinois arts community as an exhibiting artist, mentor and advocate. Her work has been featured in galleries, festivals, and private collections, earning recognition for both its technical mastery and emotional resonance.
In all its forms, Polly Greathouse’s art offers a meditation on profound elemental energies of a place—an invitation to see and feel more deeply the interconnected vitality of our shared environment.
Primarily working in oil on paper, Polly’s paintings are known for their dynamic brushwork and abstract expressionist energy. Her technique moves fluidly between delicate, watercolor-like transparencies and rich, layered impasto. She often contrasts graceful marks with bold, Sumi-e-inspired strokes in black and white, punctuated by vivid flashes of color. Her practiced eye for light, shadow, and motion gives each piece a sense of presence and immediacy.
Polly’s art centers on nature—not as a backdrop, but as an active force. Her compositions reflect ecosystems in motion: shaped by weather, light, and seasonal cycles. Rejecting a single focal point, she invites viewers into immersive, multi-directional landscapes that echo the experience of being in the wild—where everything is alive and interconnected.
In addition to traditional media, Polly integrates digital tools into her practice. Her digital works extend her painterly vocabulary, allowing new forms of gesture and rhythm to emerge. Whether on screen, paper or canvas, her work honors the same core themes: transformation, attention, and the energy of living systems.
For over twenty years, Polly has contributed to the northern Illinois arts community as an exhibiting artist, mentor and advocate. Her work has been featured in galleries, festivals, and private collections, earning recognition for both its technical mastery and emotional resonance.
In all its forms, Polly Greathouse’s art offers a meditation on profound elemental energies of a place—an invitation to see and feel more deeply the interconnected vitality of our shared environment.
Photographic Inspiration
The form of a city changes faster, alas, than the human heart. ~ Charles Baudelaire