8/7/03 Pittsburgh Tribune Review,

A reflection of the level of professionalism among the visual artists of our region, the 85-member-strong Pittsburgh Society of Illustrators is the fourth-largest professional organization of its kind in the country. Only six years young, it also is the most recent group to form alliances with the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

The decision was a prudent one, says Fred Carlson, the group's president. "It seemed like a great way to expand our options," he says. "The center promotes things, and it would take some of the burden off of us to promote events if we hosted programs and shows there."

After signing on as the center's newest resident member guild earlier this year, the group planned an introductory exhibition. That exhibition is now on display in two galleries on the center's first floor, and it features 40 works by 12 members in a variety of media.

"Every Picture Tells a Story" not only introduces the group to the center's regularly attending audience, but it also shows the high level of professionalism to be found in the work of its members and how their works are used for commercial purposes.

That's evident right up front. In the first gallery, visitors come to where veteran illustrators Carlson and George Gaadt show several sophisticated projects such as a CD cover Carlson recently completed for Sony Music that features portraits of bluegrass legends Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and several original paintings of American historical figures Gaadt has done for numerous publications.

Carlson and Gaadt have been members of the group since it began in 1997. But this is a rapidly growing organization, so to represent that, alongside their works are hung those by newer members.

One such member is John Ritter. And even though Ritter is new to the group, his work is just as strong and sought-after. Two CD covers on display attest to this - one for an album by Bruce Springsteen for Columbia Records and another for an album by Jason Ingram for Betty Rocket Records - as well as two feature illustrations for Bloomberg Personal Finance magazine.

Ritter's work is so popular right now, Carlson says, that he illustrated two of the past three covers for Atlantic Monthly magazine.

As slick as those works by the aforementioned appear, they are matched by that of the remaining illustrators in the show, especially those who have illustrated books or book covers.

For example, Lynne Cannoy shows a well-executed and highly stylized pastel painting of Spaniards and Indians she did for the cover of "Katsina: A Novel of Rebellion," published by Tor Books, and Maria Cherkasskaya displays a delicate watercolor of a little girl she painted for the cover of the children's book "Julie's Mustard Seed," published by Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Although illustrators are mostly thought of in the context of being hired hands, they are artists just the same, and just like fine artists, their works reflect the influences of the world around them.

John Manders' work reflects this perfectly, in the form of three original illustrations he created for the children's book "Clarence the Copy Cat," which was published last year by Doubleday Books.

Written by Patricia Lakin, the book tells the story of a "peace loving cat" that is evicted from his home at a sandwich shop and ultimately taken in by a librarian at a public library. In Manders' illustrations, the sandwich shop is on a street that looks surprisingly like Shadyside's Walnut Street, and the library is drawn almost exactly like the interior of the Oakland Branch of the Carnegie Library.

Kathy Rooney is another illustrator whose Pittsburgh ties are evident. Not just by her name - she is a cousin of Pittsburgh Steelers chairman Dan Rooney - but by the examples of the projects she has completed for her No. 1 client, the Pittsburgh Steelers. They include a large-scale mural for the Steelers' corporate offices on the South Side as well as a commemorative plate and seasonal greeting card.

Although several more works by other illustrators display a wide range of projects, the works of Mark Klingler and John Blumen stand out as examples of how highly specialized an illustrator's assignments can be.

Klingler, who works as a scientific illustrator for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, displays several examples of his precise zoological drawings, which have been used for things such as a poster for the California Department of Fish and Game and the cover of Science magazine. Blumen displays a digital illustration of a house and deck used for the gallon-sized can of deck sealer manufactured by Wolman Woodcare Products.

Straightforward examples of how illustrations are used in publishing and packaging, they also perfectly represent how illustration and art play a part in our everyday lives