131 W. Court St.
P.O. Box 475
Richland Center
WI
53581
608-649-1700
Biography of:
Sally Probasco
My interest in art dates back to childhood. With my parents encouragement I took
lessons outside of school with a local New Jersey artist. There are photos of
me, age 14, studiously drawing portraits of anyone who would volunteer to sit
during a local art fair.
I studied drawing, painting and art history under Charles Peterson, now a famous
water colorist in Ephraim Wisconsin, as an undergraduate at Marietta College in
Ohio and began an MFA program at UW-Madison but promptly switched to a more
“practical” field—recreation therapy. After earning my master’s degree I worked
with emotionally disturbed children and adolescents using art, drama and
physical activities to evaluate their social functioning. Several years later I
moved to an academic advising position on the Madison campus and continued
working with graduate students for twenty plus years. Only in my spare time
(with three children) did I continue drawing and painting, predominantly in pen
and ink and oils. Late in the game I went to law school and then practiced as an
assistant city attorney in Madison from 1991 until my retirement in 2004.
Finally, there was time to return to my first love, art. Most recently I’ve
focused on watercolor particularly plein air painting of landscapes and still
lifes. In the last several years I’ve been fortunate to study under Pat
Dobrinska, of Green Lake, Wisconsin, and Diane Rath and Kathryn Wilson, of
Chicago.
I’m inspired by the intellectual nature of painting, the challenge of putting
together composition, the floating of color mixtures on textured paper and the
recording of light on surface. Southwestern Wisconsin offers endless
inspiration.
131 W. Court St. · P.O. Box 475 · Richland Center, WI 53581
608-604-2838
©2005 - Red Door Gallery - all rights reserved.
www.reddoorgallery.org