Cassandra Anne James

Cassandra Anne James Cassandra James was born March 22, 1947, and passed away August 17, 2012. During her 65 years, Cassandra's journey took her from coast to coast, where her spirit, her music, and her artwork touched the lives of everyone who met her. Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a relatively rare neurological disease, robbed her of her ability to make music and art. But, it never took away her amazing spirit and joy for life. "Cassandra's passing is a great loss to all of us," said husband Mark Bierner. "She was a woman of spirit and independence. As an artist, she painted what she wanted and how she wanted, never giving into the temptations of producing artwork simply for its marketability." Austin was the place Cassandra always called home, and she was an Austin phenomenon for more than three decades. Her artwork was displayed at local galleries and exhibited as part of the People's Gallery Exhibition in Austin City Hall. She taught painting classes at the Art School of the Austin Museum of Art for many years, and her students dedicated a garden area to her at Laguna Gloria in 2008. Cassandra grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, the first child of Willard and Geneva James. While she always showed an aptitude for art, her earlier love was music - piano, violin, and cello. Her cello performances with the Fort Worth Youth Symphony eventually led to a scholarship at Harden Simmons University where she studied music and played with the Abilene Philharmonic Orchestra. While music was and would remain a major part of Cassandra's life (she also performed with the El Paso Symphony, the Mills College Chamber Orchestra, and the Austin Civic Orchestra, and was a founding board member of what today is Austin's renowned Conspirare choir), her interests turned to fine art. She moved to Austin where she attended The University of Texas and received her Bachelor of Fine Art degree in 1971 and her Master of Fine Art degree in 1976. Cassandra's next adventure took her to San Francisco. She pursued painting, worked for the San Francisco Art Museum Association, and was Assistant to the Director of the Mills College Art Museum. In 1979, with son Jameson in tow and the notion of a career in the museum field in mind, Cassandra returned to Austin where she became Associate Curator of the art collection at the Harry Ransom Humanities and Research Center at The University of Texas. It was not long, however, until her desire to produce original work got the best of her, and in 1983 she formed Cassandra & Company, a graphic design studio. Cassandra & Company evolved into the Cassandra James Studio and Gallery, and graphic design slowly gave way to the production and exhibition of fine art - mainly pin and ink and watercolor with floral themes in those days. One memorable exhibit was of orchids with the living specimens placed next to the watercolors. Something of an artistic breakthrough occurred when Cassandra, husband Mark, sons Jameson James and Gann Bierner, and Sadie the Wonder Dog took a trip to the Davis Mountains in 1988. It was there that she fell in love with representational landscape painting and turned to oil on canvas as her medium. The Cassandra James Studio and Gallery evolved into the Cassandra James Studio when she closed her commercial operation in 1992 and turned her attention totally to original paintings and works on paper. At this point she began to develop a style of painting that would pretty much define her major contribution to the field. Using a Renaissance technique of layering oil and pigment, and using cumulous clouds and other phenomena such as tornados and even the billowing smoke of fires, volcanic eruptions, and the 9/11 tragedy as devices for exploring color and form, she was able to achieve a depth and luminosity in her work that made it uniquely "Cassandra" and unlike anything previously produced by other artists. Cassandra even took to painting clouds and water as seen from above, working from photographs taken during commercial flights and during special private flights with pilot friend Rob Patten. A show titled Visual Flight Rules at Clayton Galleries in Tampa, Florida, elicited this response from Marcia Corbino, member of the International Association of Art Critics: "Cassandra James' Airborne suggests a poetic serenity. The boundless space of clouds and sky has a lucidity and glowing quality. The painting becomes a refuge . . ." In 1994, Cassandra, husband Mark, and Sadie the Wonder Dog moved to Sarasota, Florida, where Mark had accepted the position of Executive Director of the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. Taking this as an opportunity to expand her horizons, Cassandra became an adjunct faculty member at the Ringling College of Art and Design where she taught drawing and painting from 1996 to 1999. Here she discovered a love of teaching that became a passion of hers for the rest of her life. "Cassandra was an extraordinary art educator," said Abby Schultz, a former Ringling student who later moved to Austin and became a close friend of Cassandra's. "She knew how to guide her students through the process of producing fine art in a way that encouraged us to develop our own artistic individuality and style. Cassandra was a charismatic teacher and a wonderful friend." During the next ten years, back in Austin (1999-2005) and then in Arizona (2005-2009), Cassandra pursued both painting and teaching. She taught painting for Texas State University, the Austin Museum of Art, Penland School of Arts and Crafts in North Carolina, and the Ringling College summer program at Wildacres in North Carolina. In addition, she offered many classes and workshops including ones in Austin, Arizona, Montana, South Carolina, and Mexico. One former student, Carole Sikes of Austin, remarked, "Cassandra James was an accomplished and prolific painter. She was a teacher with exceptional communication skills, a painter with enthusiasm and eagerness to encourage other painters, and a friend to all who painted with her." Austin Museum of Art Senior Director of Education, Judith Sims, noted, "Cassandra was an exemplary teacher with a deep commitment to deconstructing the creative process for her students and furthering their individual work and ambitions." Cassandra was represented by many galleries throughout the United States, and there were numerous exhibitions of her work including ones in Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Santa Fe, Sarasota, Tampa, Chicago, and New York. Her work was also part of a Department of State Exhibit at the United States Embassy in Sophia, Bulgaria, 2008-2010. Her last solo exhibit was Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water at the Austin Museum of Art - Laguna Gloria in late 2009 and early 2010, and three of her works were part the 2010 People's Gallery Exhibition in Austin City Hall. Cathy Clayton, owner of Clayton Galleries in Tampa, Florida, had this to say: "Cassandra brought an entirely different dimension to representational landscape painting, and I feel privileged to have shown her work in my gallery." Cassandra's work is part of many public and corporate collections including the Art Museum of South Texas, Mercedes Benz, Motorola Corporation, IBM, USAA Bank, and McDonald's Corporation. Her work is also in numerous private collections including those of Paul Allen, Luci Baines Johnson, Joan Kelleher, Will Klemm, Gayle and Mike Roche, Yvonne Tocquigny, Melba and Ted Whatley, and Debra and Jim Alsup. "While Progressive Supranuclear Palsy made it impossible for Cassandra to pursue her passion for art and music during her last couple of years, she maintained an incredibly positive attitude until the very end," commented long-time friend Sue Barnes. "Most people would have cursed their situation, but Cassandra continued to enjoy life and to enjoy her friends and loved ones. She was an exceptional person." Cassandra is survived by husband Mark Bierner, sons Jameson James and Gann Bierner, grandchildren Adelaide James, Kestrel Bierner and Griffin Bierner, sister Kathy Kelly, brother Will James, and many cousins, nieces, nephews, and other relatives. For those who wish to honor Cassandra, contributions to the following would be greatly appreciated: Conspirare, 505 E. Huntland Dr. #155, Austin, TX 78752; The Art School at Laguna Gloria, 3809 W. 35th Street, Austin, TX 78703. A bon voyage celebration for Cassandra will take place on Saturday, September 22, 1:00-5:00 PM at Flatbed Press, 2832 East MLK Blvd., Austin, TX 78702, (512)477-9328.