She/Her/Hers

Cynthia or CJ (either is fine) knew she was an artist and a reader when as a tiny kid she fell in love with the comics pages in her parents’ Sunday newspapers. Growing up, the Wisconsin River was her back yard, which is where her love of camping, paddling, hiking, and just being outside was planted. When she was 13, she got a job on a small quirky horse farm. The farmer introduced her to welding, making sculptures out of odds and ends, and her love for metal took root. Over the years, she experimented with other mediums and materials – drawing, sculpture, printmaking, photography, theater set design, and a lot of clay – but the metal kept calling her back. Now, it is her main focus, and several years ago she formally launched CJ Bliss Metal Art. But she still likes to play with other things too, just for fun.

Besides the real world education gained by just doing stuff, she got some formal training too. She earned her BS in Art Education at UW Madison, and later an MS in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on art from UW Whitewater. Also, she has been an art teacher for 28 years, and her students have been some of her best teachers.

She lives in Madison with her husband Bob, and their dog Opal.