Artist Terry “Fares” Quinn on Finding New Inspirations at Phoebe Richland

As Phoebe Richland resident Terry Quinn gazes out of her living room window, she is reminded of the many times she has captured the scenery before her through brushstrokes. Quinn has always held an intense appreciation for nature, which is the primary focus of her extensive painting portfolio.

Natural landscapes are Quinn’s favorite artistic subject. When it came time to decide between one of two apartments at Phoebe Richland, Quinn jumped at the chance to live where inspiration struck: the room with a view, the one with a subject to capture.

Quinn finds beauty in the simplicity that surrounds Phoebe Richland. The view outside her apartment, which she’s painted more times than she can count, is a rather understated look at the local neighborhood—complete with trees, a steeple, and striking red structures.

Quinn’s appreciation for nature is apparent the moment you enter her home.

“I’d rather be outside than in. I do more gardening than cleaning,” she laughs.

The walls of her abode are plastered with works of old and new, nearly all of which were made with Quinn’s own two hands. Her bedroom resembles the controlled chaos of an artist’s workstation with paintings in progress, brushes, and color palettes covering the tables. The window above her workstation provides ample natural light to bring her creations to life.

Quinn’s love of art began at four years old. While living in Central Bucks, her parents built a close relationship with their neighbors, one of whom was a well-known artist in New York. Quinn was taken under this artist’s wing to foster her love of art. It’s the type of coincidence that could convince someone of the existence of destiny.

At eight years old, having moved back to Philadelphia, where she was born, Quinn attended art classes at the Philadelphia Sketch Club, where teachers praised her eye for perspective in painting.

Quinn was granted the opportunity to work under the esteemed painter Hobson Pittman during grade school, whom Quinn recalls as being rather reclusive.

“He would go off on a sabbatical or scholarly and be gone for a year. Then, he’d be back,” said Quinn.

When Pittman was present, he could only work a couple of days a week and for a handful of hours at a time.

“I learned so much that I could teach for him,” said Quinn.

Under Pittman’s guidance, Quinn learned about mixing pigments for greater vibrancy and how to portray human beings more effectively with regard to the geometry of human faces. She remembers having a friend in her class who struggled with painting human figures but was great at painting horses. When a painting demanded both horses and humans, Quinn would paint the humans, and her friend would paint the horses.

“He never touched your paintings,” said Quinn of Pittman. “Some teachers will disrupt what you’re doing—he never did. If he was going to demonstrate something, he painted it on his own. That’s something I adopted [later as an art teacher]. I never touched somebody’s painting—that’s theirs.”

Looking back, Quinn cringes at the thought of how many paintings Pittman trashed during his teaching sessions, as she saw them as masterworks, but Pittman saw them as mere teaching scraps.

During her teenage years, Quinn lived in Detroit, Michigan and attended classes at the Detroit Museum of Art.

Quinn’s alma mater is the Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia, which she loved attending. She describes her college years as overwhelmingly busy but fruitful. Her college professors were instrumental in helping Quinn navigate the unpredictable art world.

Over the years, Quinn’s art garnered a number of professional accolades. A statue of a male figure that Quinn created, originally designed for a double project in art and biology, placed highly in a Scholastic Art Show in Philly before later receiving an honorable mention at a national level. The statue would later be displayed at Central Bucks High School in Doylestown, according to Quinn.

As Quinn entered adulthood, she began teaching art classes in a home she designed in New Hope, PA.

“Of course, since I designed the house, it had a nice-sized studio,” said Quinn.

New Hope was an ideal location for Quinn to teach classes as the views along the Delaware Canal and the surrounding environment provided a naturally beautiful subject for her and her students. Quinn taught group classes for approximately 15 years in 10-week increments. Aside from her classes, she would also do commissions and art shows to sell her art when she could.

Unfortunately, as is typical for many budding artists, Quinn was unable to financially sustain herself solely on her art career.

Quinn has seen firsthand how unforgiving the art industry can be, with many artists being treated like they’re disposable. Including her own experiences, Quinn has watched her artistic peers being taken advantage of and forced to do work for insultingly low pay.

Fortunately for Quinn, her deep ties to the restaurant industry meant that she always had one foot in another career.

Quinn’s first job was bussing tables as a young teenager. Ever since, she’s had an unshakable affinity for restaurants. Over the course of her life, she has owned four establishments: Norm’s Steak Ranch on Route 611, Tastee Freeze in New Hope, Charlotte’s (now Cross Keys Diner in Doylestown), and The Fallow House (now The Salt Box in Doylestown).

Quinn was also frequently commissioned to do hand-painted signs for several local restaurants, which helped make ends meet.

Today, Quinn finds herself picking and choosing projects with greater scrutiny, as she isn’t pressured to paint for a paycheck anymore. She is currently working on the cover art (of which she was able to secure a copyright) for an upcoming book of vignettes.

Since moving to Phoebe, Quinn has painted unique artwork to go on thank you cards and other forms of communication for Phoebe’s marketing team, completely out of the kindness of her heart.

She also teaches potpourri-making classes for her fellow residents, a hobby for which she has recently shown great passion.

Though her makeshift studio is modest, she makes the most of the space.

“Any time you put artists and artistry out there, it’s important for society,” says Quinn.

The vibrancy that residents like Quinn bring to the Phoebe community makes each campus that much more special.

To learn more about Phoebe Richland, please visit phoebe.org/richland.