07.20.07
Artist started as a Disney painter
Artist Cheryl Turner got her start working at Disney World. When she was 18 years old, she packed up her Volks Wagon Bug, left her home in Oklahoma City, and headed straight to Orlando. The siren call of Mickey Mouse attracted her to take a chance and follow her dreams.
“The park had just opened,” she explains.
Now, over 20 years later, Turner has gone from creating Disney scenes to painting sexy 1930s lesbian bar scenes.
“Femme Femme Femme,” Turner’s solo show, sponsored by ArtsUnited, is on display at Stork’s in Wilton Manors all this month.
Turner, 53, started off as a portrait painter at Disney World. While working there, she attended community college. Turner then went on to become a sculptor at the park. It was there that not only her career blossomed but also her love life. She met her partner, Dawn Rosendahl, at Disney World, and the couple have been together 20 years now.
Turner continued working for Disney for many years. She went on to become a set designer and prop master. She was also part of the art direction team. Her prop work can be seen at the Swiss Family Tree House in the Magic Kingdom, GM test track and Norway Pavilion at Epcot as well as throughout Animal Kingdom.
“I spent most of my life working at Disney,” she says.
Turner and her partner left Disney in the mid-1990s to start their own scenic design and production business. They did work for Disney and other local businesses.
“We did everything from backdrops, fiberglass trees and scale models,” she explains. “I still did consulting for Disney in a creative capacity.”
At that point, Turner was doing mostly three-dimensional sculptures. She didn’t try her hand at painting until 2000. First, she created her “Deco Moon” series, which featured male figures in slightly open robes against the background of a full moon.
The series will be part of an exhibit of her work that will be at Stonewall Library & Archives in October.
Her “Femme Femme Femme” series, currently on display at Stork’s, shows her love of the 1930s.
“I was always into the 1930s and being able to depict swanky characters,” she says. “And the nostalgic theme just reinforces the fact that gays and lesbians have always been around.”
She says that she is inspired by the time of speakeasys and underground bars. In fact, most of the “Femme Femme Femme” pieces feature bar scenes.
“In 1930s, [bars were] where everything from gay and lesbian life was happening,” Turner explains. “It was where we met when coming out, socialized, got our hearts broken — everything. The same can be said for 2007.”
Turner says that she identifies with the characters she paints.
“I am fascinated by bartenders and the roles they play and how they interact with patrons,” she says. “I know what it’s like to go into a bar alone, terrified, running into an ex-girlfriend for the first time or meeting someone. I try to express some of those emotions.”
Turner says that her work features faces that she is familiar with and a lot of things she has experienced.
“They create themselves,” she says.