Contributed by Charice Chambers
By the time she was three or four, Cindy Pendleton had covered the walls of her home with art. Her youthful scrawls could be found everywhere. She and her eight siblings were all artistic in one-way or another, and all were encouraged and supported by their parents. The resultant musicians, artists and writers were the fruits of that parental support.
In seventh grade, Pendleton decided to become an art teacher. She attended Wayne State University, and in 1966 received her Bachelor’s degree in Art Education. Most of her friends were settling into domestic bliss. Pendleton had different ideas as did her best friend, a music teacher. Neither considered themselves marriage material and both were ready for an adventure. They discovered that they could each teach as government employees while moving around the world. Unfortunately, their single year of teaching experience limited their choices to either Puerto Rico or Alaska. Pendleton opted for Alaska, sand and scorpions were not her thing. Her best friend longed for warm sun and sandy beaches. A flip of a coin decided it. In August of 1967 the girls hopped in Pendleton’s old red Willy jeep and headed for Alaska. For Pendleton, the one-year adventure turned into a fifty-year-plus love affair with the state.
Alaska was good to Pendleton. There she met and married her husband and raised two children. She worked for many years as an art instructor for the Anchorage School District, retiring in 2002. During that time, she also worked with her late husband as the chief still photographer and art consultant for his film production company, Pendleton Productions. She started her own business as well: Pendleton Fine Arts.
Pendleton loves to paint. She says that she has a great internal clock and always knows within minutes just what time it is, except when she is painting. She often picks up a brush, looses track of time, and what feels like an hour or so, is actually four or five hours. For her, painting is a sheer joy. Though well skilled in many mediums, Pendleton’s media of choice has always been watercolor. She is entranced by the “freshness and immediacy of transparent watercolor.” Though she has captured a wide variety of images on canvas, from scenic vistas to animal antics, her favorite subjects are Alaska’s children. She presents them in a light hearted and loving manner that has become her distinctive signature style so appreciated by her public.
She is also known for her ‘Forget-Me-Not series: renditions of many old familiar Alaskan landmarks lost in time. From the Birdhouse, featuring its famous chicken dinners (boiled eggs) to the Rabbit Creek Inn, a well-known local eatery with a magnificent view of Cook Inlet and enough wild rabbits to fill the parking lot, Pendleton has beautifully documented our glorious past. She has recently reduced these prints to postcard style, and they are available as a set,
According to Pendleton, she doesn’t desire to hang her art in museums; she hopes to see it hung in homes, giving people joy and happiness. “If you see my art, and you smile, then I have succeeded.”
Pendleton produces limited edition prints, gallery pieces, and greeting cards, does commissioned portraits and logo design, and in short transforms paper and pigment into the story of Alaska. Many of Pendleton’s products may be found at the Matsu Senior Services Gift Shop. It is located at 1132 South Chugach Street in Palmer, across from and adjacent to Palmer Junior Middle School. The shop is open to the public from 10 am to 2 pm Monday through Friday with prices that please.
