Cheryl Rau

About

Cheryl Rau is a mid-life emerging artist. 

Since 2010, her photography and digital art have been selected for numerous regional, national, and international juried exhibitions.  Cheryl discovered her passion for photography in her 40s when she purchased her first SLR camera. She explored a wide range of subjects and genres including landscape, architectural, and documentary photography. In addition to shooting conventional images, she also began creating abstract imagery.  The first two series of her fine art photography were titled “Water Colors” (reflections on water) and “Wind Dancing” (flora blowing in the wind).

After an unexpected medical diagnosis in 2012, Cheryl began to experiment with digital art forms (collage and painting). While recovering from eye surgery and adapting to life with altered vision, she was delighted to discover new methods to continue creating visual art, which fueled a renewed commitment to her work and provided an even deeper sense of satisfaction on a spiritual level. 

In addition, Cheryl is also a storyteller. Her steamy, fast-paced debut novel -- Effortless -- was a vital outlet written in the throes of menopausal insomnia and raging hormones. Her second novel -- Scars for Sophie -- is a romance-suspense page-turner with a pinch of the paranormal.

She has held professional positions in communications and marketing, event management, and training. A graduate of the photography program at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies (Portland, ME), she earned a bachelor of arts in Journalism & Communications from Point Park College (Pittsburgh, PA). Originally from Pennsylvania, Cheryl lived in the Washington, DC area for 15 years prior to relocating to the Maine coast.