Serena G. Bates, born 1965, in Quonset, RI. From childhood, Bates had an inquisitive nature and keen interest in anything artistic. She was educated at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts (Connecticut) and the Rhode Island School of Design (Rhode Island). She studied with renowned sculptors Elizabeth Gordon Chandler, Laci deGerenday and Don Gale, as well as painters Aaron Shikler, Burton Silverman, Dean Keller and Dan Gheno. Bates is an artist member of the South County Art Association (RI), the Wickford Art Association, (RI) the Lyme Art Association (CT), and the Mystic Art Center (CT). She is also a participating member of the National Sculpture Society (New York) and a founding member of the Artists Cooperative Gallery of Westerly (Rhode Island). Her work has been featured on the cover of Soundings Magazine, the Resident, and the Mystic Seaport Museum Stores Bakeshop cookbook.

Whether it be sculpting or painting, her work is primarily done in the field or with a live subject, where she feels her works are the result of "experience and keen observation". Bates feels "you can't breathe true life into your paintings or sculptures unless you have gotten to know your subjects on a personal and more intimate level." Until fairly recently, Bates built her reputation primarily as a portrait and landscape painter. However, she discovered a talent for and love of sculpting and now divides her time equally. She actually worked for four years in a bronze-casting foundry to learn the entire lost wax process from start to finish. She now focuses on plein-air painting in the summer months, and portrait, figure and wildlife sculpting in the winter months. If asked, she will tell you her greatest influences are John Singer Sargent, Daniel Chester French and Anna Hyatt Huntington.

Recent accolades include exhibiting at the National Sculpture Society and the Catherine Lorillard Wolf Art Club in New York. Bates was also selected to paint two whales for the current New England tourist promotion "The Whale Trail" (www.thewhaletrail.com). She painted one, "Get Whale Soon", for the Westerly-Pawcatuck Chamber of commerce, which is displayed at the center of town in downtown Westerly; she painted the second "Beached Whale", for the Waterford Motel group, which is on display at the Mystic Marriott in Groton, CT. Bates has won a number of awards and is well known in the southern New England community, and her work can be found in many private collections throughout the United States. She resides and maintains her studio in Westerly, RI.

Representation & Affiliations  (1990 - Present)

Academic Artists Association, Springfield, Massachusetts
ArtWorks Gallery, Westerly, RI
Artists’ Cooperative Gallery of Westerly, Westerly, RI
Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, NY, NY
Deblois Cooperative Gallery, Newport, RI
The Courtyard Gallery, Mystic, CT
Finer Line, Mystic, CT
Gold Gallery, Westerly, RI
The Hollow Art & Antique Gallery, Mystic, CT
Maritime Gallery, Mystic, CT
Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT
Mystic Art Association, Mystic, CT
National Sculpture Society, NY, NY
Pfizer Chemical, Groton, CT
Sheldon Fine Arts, Newport, RI
South County Art Association, Kingston, RI
Slater Museum, Norwich, CT
Southeby’s Auction House
Studio 33, Stonington, CT
Wickford Art Association, Wickford, RI

References

J. Russell Jinishian (Former Director of Mystic Maritime Gallery, Mystic Seaport)
J. Russell Jinishian Gallery
1657 Post Road
Fairfield, CT 06340
203-259-8753

Joanne Millovitsch
Vice President for Finance and Administration
Mitchell College
437 Pequot Ave.
New London, CT 06320-4498
860-701-5131

Craig Richardson, President
Artists Cooperative Gallery of Westerly
12 High Street
Westerly, RI 02891
401-596-2020 or 401-377-8224

Catherine Gibson
The Hollow Art & Antiques Gallery
Sandy Hollow Road
Mystic, CT 06355
860-572-9704