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Sally Probasco
My interest in art dates back to childhood. I took oil painting lessons in middle school and as an undergraduate studied drawing and painting under Charles Peterson, a watercolorist who left academia to open a studio and gallery in Ephraim, Wisconsin. In graduate school I chose a more “practical” field—recreation therapy—using art, drama, and physical activities to work with emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. I spent the following 20 years as an adviser to graduate students at UW-Madison. 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.
Since that time I have been fortunate to devote more time to learning watercolor. I alternate painting strictly in watercolor with using a combination of watercolor, charcoal, ink, gouache and/or tissue collage. When I can I like to paint plein air. It increases my understanding of the true shapes and colors of things, the nature of aerial perspective, and the effect of light on objects. My favorite subject is animals, singly or more in groups. I find their unique shapes and personalities engrossing. I intersperse those paintings with traditional subjects—still lifes of flowers, vegetables or fruit; portraits; and landscapes.
