Phyllis Saroff

Phyllis Saroff, an established Maryland painter and illustrator since 1986, uses nature as her inspiration. Working primarily in oils, her still life paintings reflect a love for the natural world that began with her childhood upbringing in suburban Maryland and with a biologist and chemist for parents. Using a realistic, traditional style, she captures and interprets colors and form that can be found in either a cultivated garden or a wild place. Her pastel animal portraits also convey a thorough understanding of animal subjects. Additionally, her illustrations portray primarily wildlife and botanical subjects.

Phyllis’ illustrations are featured in a series of children’s educational wildlife books published by Lerner Publishing Company in Minneapolis. The Biome Series includes books on the desert, prairie, tundra, coniferous, aboreal, and rain forests. Additionally, she illustrated another children’s book, Mary Anning -- Fossil Hunter.

Phyllis also was commissioned to illustrate outdoor exhibits describing wildlife at various parks. For example, in Detroit, in 2000, she illustrated a large outdoor exhibit on peregrine falcons for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Phyllis received her BFA in illustration from Virginia Commonwealth University. She won an Honorable Mention in July, 2001, from the Illustrators’ Club of Maryland, Washington, and Virginia for a natural science illustration. Her original oil, "Trumpet Vine," won entry into the Governor’s House 1999 juried exhibit, "Works by Contemporary Maryland Artists." Additionally, in July, 2001, she won entry into the Baltimore juried public art exhibit,"The Fish Out of Water," with a still life oil painted on a six-foot fiberglass fish displayed in downtown Baltimore.