About the artist
A sense of place.
An eye for people.
Lorna Benson is an artist in Gladstone, Michigan, on the shore of Little Bay de Noc in the Upper Peninsula. She has made the community her home for more than 50 years.
Childhood, as it happens.
Lorna’s Kids’ Portraits are about the moments families hold onto: a birthday wish blown at full force, a proud boy holding up a frog in each hand, three best friends standing shoulder to shoulder, a little Packers fan at the foot of a tree, and a slide into home plate that’s much too close to call.
Her children aren’t stiff studio sitters. They grin into the sun, hug, giggle, slide and dance, and she draws them that way, with the patience to get every curl, freckle and grin right.
Ways of seeing.
In colored pencil, she works in fine detail: the pattern of a flowered dress, the speckled blue behind a tousled head of curls, the mortar lines of a brick hearth at Christmas. Her chalk pastels are softer and warmer, full of sunlit shorelines, woodland greens and warm embraces. In graphite, she builds a whole woodland in shades of gray. And in watercolor, loose washes bloom into a water lily glowing above its pads.
Look closely and you’ll often find her initials, LKB, tucked into a corner.
A connection to community.
In September 2019, the Daily Press reported that Lorna Benson spoke at the unveiling of Gladstone’s “Play” mural, thanking the organizations, businesses and residents who supported the project and its artists.
Community story: “‘Play’ mural unveiled in Gladstone,” Daily Press, September 7, 2019 . The mural is a community project; it is not presented here as Lorna’s artwork.
Say hello
Let’s talk about art.
For questions about the work, get in touch by email.
Email Lornaklbenson2261@charter.net