"American Icons" is an exhibition in mixed media by Margot Siegmann. Margot is an artist and teacher from Newburyport, Massachusetts. Margot describes her show as evolving from several of her passions. She studied as a fashion illustrator and was always fascinated with images of models. She thought their beautiful and enigmatic faces had a strange and flat quality much like icons. Many worship these images much as past societies worshiped icons.

Margot lived in Italy for a few years so the backgrounds of the paintings are conceived from her memories of walls of frescoes. She liked best the frescoes in bad repair; their missing pieces and soft colors worked really well in her paintings.

Margot loves working in several media. These paintings started with very realistic drawings of the models done in colored pencil. Because she felt they should be stronger, she added water color. The backgrounds in contrast with the realism of the models were a free expression of collage. She used handmade paper, gold leaf and watercolor. All in all Margot had a wonderful time doing these and feels that this is the closest she's ever come to meditating.

Margot has participated in invitational shows in Varese and Milano and in the Newburyport Art Association.