Artist Instructors Fred and Lorraine Alves
Fred and Lorraine Alves: Resident Artist Instructors
Fernando (Fred) and Lorraine Alves, well known at PebbleCreek and the greater Phoenix area for their beautiful oil paintings, are being recognized as Resident Artist Instructors for the Month of August by the PebbleCreek Art Club. They are truly deserving of the highest honors for their long years of teaching and volunteering here at PebbleCreek.
Fred and Lorraine moved to PebbleCreek in 1995 after both took early retirement. They are New Jersey natives, have been married for 57 years and have one daughter. After serving in the military, Fred majored in Commercial Art and worked in that field throughout his career, retiring as an Art Director and later Associate Manager of Hoffmann-LaRoche, Inc., a large multi-national pharmaceutical firm. While there, he directed the design and implementation of their new Corporate Identity Program. Lorraine served as a Workers’ Compensation Claims representative handling New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware jurisdictions.
Upon retiring Fred says, “All commercial art involvements took a back seat to some serious oil painting done entirely for personal gratification.” His favorite artists include John Singer Sargent, Joaquin Sorolla and Cecilia Beaux as well as living artist, Richard Schmid. Since 1997 Fred has shared his talents by teaching oil painting classes; one of his greatest joys was watching students who had never picked up a brush before, or hadn’t painted for decades, blossom as they discovered their latent talents. Foremost among these students was Lorraine, who has developed into a talented and respected artist.
Lorraine studied art for 10 years specializing in oil painting at the Scottsdale Artist School. She was included in the invitation-only workshop by renowned artists Hedi Moran and Susan Diehl. Lorraine shares the passion she finds in Hedi Moran’s paintings and anyone who has seen her florals can readily see this enthusiasm and talent expressed in her work. In addition to being an avid tennis player, Lorraine enjoys seeing the flowers in her garden grow to be future paintings. After assisting Fred for a number of years, she began teaching her own classes in 2011.
Fred and Lorraine ooze with talent and are juried members of several organizations including Arizona Art Alliance and Arizona Artist Guild. They have shown their work as well as won numerous awards in a variety of shows in Phoenix, Glendale, Peoria and Goodyear.
PebbleCreek is most fortunate to have these two extremely talented artists give so generously to the PebbleCreek art community. If you are interested in exploring oil painting, join them on Tuesday afternoons in the Coyote Room in the Creative Arts Center. You are invited to view their paintings on display at the Tuscany Falls and Eagle’s Nest clubhouses and at the Creative Arts Center; especially look for one painting entitled Still Waiting, Fred’s latest animal painting.