After raising her four children in the Chicagoland area, Connie Landis moved Up North to pursue her art career.  Since childhood, she has been coming to her family home on Lake Charlevoix where her mother, artist Martha Landis, resided for over 40 years.  Her parents had a great appreciation for the arts and antiques, and the beauty of Northern Michigan.  Her mother was a recognized landscape artist and provided much inspiration and motivation on her path to becoming an artist.

 Working mainly in oils, Connie’s work can best be described as contemporary impressionism.  After a rough sketch, she paints quickly using loose, lush brush stokes, believing there is energy in the stroke that translates as motion and brings life to the painting.

 One of the biggest challenges for an artist is simply arriving at one’s own style.  Connie took many classes in high school and college, and most of her training has been from numerous established artist workshops throughout the country.  “Your personal style derives from a compilation of all that you have observed combined with a deep sense of self.  There is an integrity in finding your own voice and sticking to it”.

 “Flying Colors” portrays the excitement of the annual Charlevoix Venetian Festival.  Throughout history, nautical flags have been used at sea for communication between ships to convey short messages.  In the case of this work of art, each flag represents a letter of the alphabet, spelling out “CHARLEVOIX VENETIAN”. 

Connie’s work can be found locally at the Crooked Tree Art Center, Mettlers Mercantile in Petoskey, and Charlevoix Circle of Arts.