Naples artist Lynda Fay Braun has made a career imposing spiritual order on nature’s chaos. Her paintings in this year’s Naples Invitational reflect her signature meditative depth.
“These were originally photographs that were manipulated into patterns that I then put on canvas with oil paint and metallic acrylic,” said Braun, pointing to two paintings at opposite ends of the Naples Art Institute gallery.
Braun’s artistic journey began in the wilds of the Adirondacks. Today, she finds inspiration in the wetlands of Southwest Florida.
“I live near Bonita in what is basically a wildlife preserve,” Braun explained. “We have a couple of miles of paths. I walk it every day and take photographs and then I go home and use my computer to change them into things that interest me.”
Braun’s paintings and prints are contemplative and reflect a year in India with a spiritual teacher.
Studies in digital media at Santa Fe Community College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, led to a related interest.
“I also do photo restoration of old photographs,” said Braun. “I do people's albums of their family, like family photo albums. And so, I use my Photoshop skills in many different ways.”
Braun’s paintings, “The Return” and “Birth Right,” and digital prints on archival paper, “Palm Study Green” and “Palm Study Red,” are on display through Nov. 30 at the Naples Art Institute.
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Braun earned a BFA from Cooper Union and an MFA in painting from Cornell.
While at Cornell, Braun met reclusive artist Agnes Martin. Her mentorship, which continued through Braun’s residency at the Wurlitzer Foundation, deeply influenced Braun's devotion to discipline and abstraction.
In addition to her studies at Sante Fe Community College, Braun studied digital media with John Paul Caponigro, integrating new tools into her practice.
Braun taught at the Naples Art Institute before it changed its name from the von Liebig Art Center. She also was one of the first artists to exhibit in the Wasmer Gallery at Florida Gulf Coast University in the year that Morgan T. Paine initiated the university’s art program. In 2022-2023, she had a solo print exhibition at BIG ARTS that made it safely through Hurricane Ian.
Braun’s work has been recognized by Daniel Miller/Your Daily Photograph, Rfotofolio, Artsy Shark and the Center for Photography in Carmel. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of Neiman Marcus, Cornell University, the Ritz-Carlton and Naples Art Institute.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.
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