CV – Gretchen Bender Sparks

Gretchen Bender Sparks

Five words: Travel, Experience, Physical, Interpretation, Spiritual

I am incorporating the techniques I developed doing field Geology into my art. My art comes from the direct result of my physical involvement with the landscape (field work) interpreted in the studio (lab work). I strive to move past what is observed in the landscape – to lose the feeling of place – and to use my art to translate the landscape into a narrative or anecdote for others. The landscape, correctly interpreted will make the soul flow. My goal is to bring the artist into the landscape without abandoning the perception of the scientist.

This painting was inspired by the Alabama Hills, which are in the Owens Valley, California! Very close to my thesis area in the Inyo Mountains.

Gretchen Bender Sparks

2020 – Finished BLOCK XX, Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas

2019 – Finished BLOCK XIX, Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas

2018 – Certificate of Achievement in Painting; Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas
2018 – 2020 Block Program; Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas

2014 – present – Studio Practice; Silver Street Studios, Houston, Texas

2021 – “Chinati Mountains Study #5” juried show (Cecilia Fajardo-Hill); Lawndale Art Center, BIG Show, Houston, Texas
2021 – Block XX show in Orton Gallery at the Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas
2021 – Block XX virtual show https://blockshow2.mfah.yourcultureconnect.com/e/home-page
2020 – “Antarctica Is Melting” juried show (Shana Nys Dambrot, CA); VAA Houston, Texas
2019-present – Silver Street Studio; Exhibitions Committee member
2019 – “Llano River Rocks”; juried show (Christine Jelson West, TX); VAA Houston, Texas
2019 – “Dimetrodons are NOT Dinosaurs!” – (ceramics display); BLOCK XIX show; Glassell School of Art, Houston, Texas
2019 – “Sixth Night on the River”; Kinder-Morgan juried show; Houston, Texas
2018 – “Tumpisa” and “Storm over Ansfelden”; Certificate of Achievement show; Glassell School of Art, Houston
2016 – “Cliffs of Carlsbad”; juried show; Blue Orange Gallery, Houston, Tx
2016 – “Van Horn, Texas”; juried show (Clint Willor, Texas); Selected Works from the Artists of Sawyer Yards, Houston
2015 – “Geology and Art” Presentation to the Houston Gem and Mineral Society
2015 – “Llano Downpour”; juried show; The Art of Resiliency, Canal Street Gallery, Houston, Texas

1975 – Bachelor’s degree in Geology, University of California, Riverside
1979 – Masters degree in Geology, San Diego State University, California

2003 – present – Master Docent, Houston Museum of Natural Science; lead docent for the Paleontology Prep Lab at HMNS Sugar Land