Blanche M. Kirchner has studied and taught art for over 45 years in northern Virginia and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Better known for her portraits, she brings all of her artistic expertise and experience to the “Shadows and Petals” miniature silhouette creations that will be on exhibit at Art and Frame of Falls Church during November. Blanche has studied art at the American University and at the Corcoran School of Art, and privately with many noted artists such as Elaine Hartley Levine, Jack Boul, Ferdinand Petrie, Marcos Blahove and Charle Reed.

Her paintings hang in private collections locally and abroad. Blanche was commissioned by the Arlington Bar Association to paint portraits of Commonwealth Attorney William Hasson and Clerk of the Court H. Bruce Green. The miniature artworks in the “Shadows and Petals” exhibit are created by Blanche and her art partner, Myra Yeager. Each picture represents eight to ten hours of work and each one is unique. Blanche cuts the silhouettes from the finest French paper. The flowers have been collected from all over the United States from northern Vermont and New Hampshire south to Chesapeake, Virginia and as far west as Iowa. The flowers are carefully pressed and the silhouettes and flowers are placed on acid-free museum board
and encapsulated between glass and more acid-free board.

The frames are given three coats of paint before being enhanced by fleurography to harmonize with the story being portrayed through the silhouettes and flowers. A final coat of varnish is applied to protect the work. Blanche has won many awards including a Purchase Award from the State of Virginia, the George M. Muth Award and a First in Show award from the Vienna Arts Society. She has won several Best in Show awards from the Art League of Northern Virginia and the Rehoboth Art League in Delaware. Blanche continues to teach art classes in her private studio and is still actively involved in painting and exhibiting her work.