Fern Matthews is a multidiscipline visual artist based in Orlando, Florida, working primarily in painting and sculpture. She was fortunate to have been exposed to the arts at an early age and has been participating, learning and growing in the arts throughout her life. Her work in sculpture informs her paintings with clear dimensions and bold lines, while her paintings reflect her exposure to different cultures and geographies. Her career afforded her many unique opportunities, taking her to exotic locations covering stories for a lifestyle magazine where she served as editor-in-chief, to Japan, where she represented Florida in international business as publisher of Japanese-language business and lifestyle magazines, to the amazing backstage of musical and Shakespearean theater, to the evocative world of visual art. The people she met along the way, the landscapes she experienced, the behind the “do not enter” ropes that gave her access to people and stories formed a creative bank for the visual stories and emotional vignettes of her paintings. Working primarily in acrylics, color is a central focus, whether it is bold or subtle, as her use of color gives voice to the emotions and stories her work reveals. Her work can be subtle, using lines as allegorical references, or bold and forceful, using colors and brushwork to express feelings, events and various dynamics central to our lives. Her work is in the permanent collections of museums, corporations and private collections, and has been exhibited in galleries and shows throughout the United States and the Caribbean. She has been awarded grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, Creative Capital, and United Arts in cooperation with the State of Florida.