Edison Celebration of Art announces signature artist

COURTESY PHOTO Barbara Chloe Murdoch's "Rhythm of the Arts" The sixth annual Edison Celebration of Art announced that Barbara Chloe Murdoch is this year's signature artist. A longtime resident of Fort Myers.

Ms. Murdoch has created a signature painting for the event. "Rhythm of the Arts" exuberantly expresses the excitement of the arts for children of all ages. She has graciously donated the watercolor to the Edison Celebration of Art to both promote the event and raise funds for the charity.

"When I first began painting I was your typical watercolor painter.…I used to wonder if I would ever be able to break out and have my own ideas and imagination," Ms. Murdoch said. "It was several years before I found all these bright-colored stylized abstracts coming naturally from my head."

Ms. Murdoch moved to Florida in 1979 from Michigan and began painting in 1992. An award-winning artist, she paints mostly with watercolors, but ventures into acrylics for dramatic abstracts. She has great variety in her work, from jungle animals to whimsical abstracts, as in her "Dancing Ladies" and "Stilt House" series. Her colors are bright and her design eye-catching. Her most recent abstract series, "City Lights," is mixed water media done in rich, dark reds, browns, golds and blues. The series depicts an after-dark abstract cityscape that causes the viewer to search for the hidden mysteries that are waiting to be discovered.

Ms. Murdoch's work can be viewed at the WildChild Gallery in Matlacha, the Koi & Krane in Fort Myers, and the Art League of Fort Myers.

Edison Celebration of Art, Inc. is partnering with the Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center, and the School District of Lee County.

The sixth annual Edison Celebration of Art will be held on Jan. 31, from 10 a.m- 5 p.m. in front of the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center in Downtown Fort Myers.

For more information go to www.edisoncelebration. info .