A native southerner who grew up in Montgomery, I graduated with an art degree in art from Montevallo and then went to Iowa for a masters degree in art. I later spent 25 years in New York City and L.I. where I attended the Art Students League in Manhattan for three years, studied batik in Java, spent hours going to all the art museums and I traveled extensively in Europe and Asia, and maintained a studio for my own work. I exhibited widely in galleries in New York City.
When my husband retired, we moved to the Eastern Shore of Mobile. I began to paint all the wonderful images from turnip greens to live oaks draped with spanish moss. A strong background in classical drawing and painting and a deep love of the area helps more.

When I paint, I try to capture the essence of the object before me. The viewer should be able to sense the rough texture pf a trees bark, the strength of the amaryllis flower, the emotion of the model. I tend to work realistically with careful drawings at first and, after several paintings, begin to paint abstractly, always trying to reach the essential emotion of the piece.

Phyllis Springen grew up in Alabama, spent 25 years in New York, and returned to Alabama where she delights in the lush flora of Mobile Bay. She holds a B.F.A.in art from the University of Montevallo, a masters in art from the University of Iowa, and is a lifetime member of the Art Students League in N.Y.C. where she studied for three years. She has exhibited widely in museums and galleries in New York and also in Alabama.

Juried and Invitational Exhibitions


Lincoln Center, N.Y.
Cork Gallery, New York
Heckscher Museum, Huntington, New York
Firehouse Gallery, Garden City, New Jersey
Museum of Fine Arts, 3 purchase Awards, Montgomery, Alabama
University of Mobile, ” Art with a Southern Drawl”, MObile Museum of Art, Mobile, Alabama

Solo Exhibitions
Belanthi Gallery, New York City
Chevy Chase, Maryland
Verzyl Gallery, Northport, New York
Whiting Gallery,
Eastern Shore Art Association, Fairhope, Alabama
Thomas Hospital, Fairhope, Alabama
Magazine Street Gallery, New Orleans

Work In Collections
New York: Glen Loney and Judith Glosten Collections
Washington, D.C.: C. Freeman Collection
Montgomery, Al: Jacob Aranvov Collection (2 Works)