Brenda Ashton Aiken '57
Pamela Cochrane Tisdale '68
September 10 - October 15, 2010
Reception, September 10, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
http://brendaaiken.com/inquiries.php
Wilson College will hold a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 10, to mark the opening of Alumnae Artist Showcase, an exhibit of recent paintings by Wilson College alumnae Brenda Ashton Aiken, Class of 1957, and Pamela Cochrane Tisdale, Class of 1968. The exhibit, presented by Wilson’s Department of Fine Arts and Dance, will continue through Oct. 15 in the Bogigian Gallery, which is located on the second floor of Lortz Hall.
Aiken was born in Hartford, Conn., but has lived in West Chester, Pa., for the last 35 years. Only recently moving into her current vein of work, botanical illustration, Aiken drew and painted since childhood in the United States and abroad, including extensively in Italy and China. She was rewarded for her talents in high school with two national scholarships, and completed a degree with honors at Wilson College.
Aiken is a member of the Philadelphia Society of Botanical Illustrators and the American Society of Botanical Artists. She has exhibited in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, and shown in the Philadelphia Flower show in since 2008.
Aiken says she paints because she must. “Drawing, sketching, painting and the need to do so are as much a part of my genetic makeup as the color of my eyes and hair,” she said.
Tisdale was born in Pennsylvania and grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs. Like her mother, she went to Wilson College, majoring in psychology. After completing a master’s degree in education at the University of Florida, she taught children with behavior disorders in Denver, Colo. Later, she returned to Florida and completed a doctorate in special education. Next came a move to Charleston, S.C. She accepted a position at the College of Charleston, where she taught in the education department from 1977-2001.
She continues to pursue her interests in painting, community, service, continuing education, travel, family and friends. “Because the stars aligned, I now have a hobby that gives me pleasure and allows for creative expression – two critical components of this phase of my life,” Tisdale said.