Presence is the overall theme of my work. I do not believe you need to show the figure to represent the idea of presence. I focus on the small moments people tend to look over that could take place in a single second, which can be quite beautiful when noticed in fabric and still life’s. I enjoy not looking over the small moments but taking the time to see and appreciate them while capturing them on my panels for my senior show. The realistic panels are represented in a black and white color scheme to freeze the moment in time such as photographs do. Next to those captured moments, I place another panel abstracting from the realistic panel which includes capturing the texture and color. The abstracted panel incorporates local color and texture. Using panel helps me manipulate the surface into the texture I desire for the specific moment. I enjoy simplifying those moments into their simplest form. I have three major artists that influence my work and they are Jos Van Riswick, Arleta Pech, and Rebecca Crowell.
Jos Van Riswick has a style that I wish I had at this moment, but I need more practice to come close to his photorealistic style. I want to include the artist statements of the three artists that are influencing my series at the moment.
“In my free work I predominantly paint still life paintings. For a still life painting I use objects that appeal to me because of their form, color, and surfaces structure.
I prefer to paint objects at their real size or somewhat bigger than their real size. Elements that fascinate me in a painting are rhythm, color, the light and structure of the paint-skin.
The compositions of my still lives usually arise as I’m arranging objects on a table, but often an image will come to me in advance. Usually it is not my intention to use objects in a symbolic way, but symbolic references sometimes do arise unintentionally.” (Riswick 1) http://www.josvanriswick.com/schaaltjemeteieren.jpg_still_life-nav.html
After reading his artist statement multiple times I find myself finding many similarities between his work and myself. I also chose objects that I enjoy their form, color, and texture. Also Riswick does not intentionally use objects that are symbolic, I chose my objects carefully so if they do have a symbolic meaning I am aware of it and prepare myself to defend my choices. My objects tend to be painted to their actual size. Another still life artist that influences me is Arleta Pech.
Arleta Pech’s artist statement. “My goal is to engage the viewer on three levels: artistically, emotionally, and intellectually. These collections, specifically, ask that the viewer “suspend reality”. For example, the depiction of a single drop of water as it falls through space awakens the imagination and asks a question. How was this moment in time captured?
I am aware that falling water pushes at the verbal construct of the term “still life”. Yet, I hope to capture one moment of magic, painted with an eye toward imparting a sense of wonder.
Technically, it seems as if the subject were lit from behind the canvas. This is a demonstration of a technique borrowed from the Old Masters… the use of many thin dilutions of oil paint to create a “lit from within” quality. It matters not whether the subject is light or dark; these layers create their own prism, gently breaking light breams into rainbows of color.” (Pech 1)
http://www.arletapech.com/Counterweight.htm
I look at Pech’s work more for the realistic flowers than the actual still life set up. In her artist statement she mentions time being captured and that it what my theme incorporates along with showing presence in the still life and abstraction. I enjoy how she explains her techniques and the backlighting she creates. The lighting in her work reminds me of Rebecca Crowell’s work, another influence of mine.
Rebecca Crowell’s artist statement. “ The sources of my ideas are varied and interwoven, with the colors and textures of nature playing a large role. Memories, impressions, and personal symbols all figure in as well, as do elements of pure abstraction. There is interplay in my work between appreciation of the natural world and the desire to organize and manipulate the environment.
I use a variety of techniques for making marks and laying down areas of color, including some I learned many years ago in printmaking. I build up many layers of paint, and also scrape, gouge, and dissolve parts of the layers so that underlying bits emerge. The result is a surface that is complex in texture and nuances of color. Thus there is a correlation between the organic look and feel of my work with the process of making it.
Each painting is an open-ended exploration, undertaken with a blend of spontaneity and carful analysis. It is my hope that in the end, my work has a certain clarity and integrity that invokes contemplation.” (Crowell 1)
http://www.rebeccacrowell.com/multipleslatecliffzoom.jpg
Crowell is someone I look towards when working with layering and color combinations. Her work can be separated and rearranged depending on the nature area she is trying to create. The way she simplifies all the colors of nature into layers is something I try and achieve in my abstracted paintings. Crowell’s work with nature moves into another influence of mine, which is flowers and nature.
I find myself looking outside for inspiration, mostly at flowers. Though my work does not always deal with nature I find that the presence in nature relates to my still lives and how I recreate the moments of presence. Walking through the woods and hearing the sounds of nature and seeing the birds and animals literally shows the presence that I am recreating in my still life’s. When I go out in nature I do not directly look for animals and birds but the little moments where a rock has been kicked and the ground is scuffed up and the way branches are snapped but still hanging from the limbs. Another example would be the flowers that get smashed when someone runs though.
I have incorporated flowers into my paper paintings this semester. Flowers have always intrigued me for their beautiful texture and the colors you can find within each petal. I portray the smoothness and softness of the petals in my paintings along with the simple and drastic color changes that can happen in the petals. Instead of completely abstracting the flowers or portraying them very realistically I am experimenting with the organic shapes of the petals overlapping and how the relationship with one another can be subtle and sharp at the same time.
As I said earlier still lives are something I look closely at. In drawing one and two, still lives are a large part of the class and were my favorite especially when fabric was incorporated. The way the fabric created waves and ripples show the human touch within it and caught my attention. Going into painting two, I began looking at Dutch still lives and still found myself finding that human touch within them even if the still life was perfectly set up. I enjoy how Riswick puts his own spin on the Dutch still lives that he is inspired by. After that I began setting up my own still lives and creating more of a presence. This led me to part of my senior show theme.
Presence has also entered my work in different ways from still life’s to portraiture. In my portraits, I enjoy bringing the personality of the figure out for the audience to see. In my fabric, I enjoy showing the human touch of moving the fabric creating the wrinkles. In my still life’s, I show the figure with the placements of the objects and the interaction between them. Finding presence in a glimpse of a moment is one of the things I find myself doing everyday and enjoying. I noticed that my family home has the most experiences of presence that I notice quicker than at other places.
Family has influenced my work since I was young and making drawings of my family in front of our house. My portraiture directly influences my family and their characteristics. I have a series of my mom, dad, and brother and painted them in the colors that portrayed their personalities the most accurately. Then I switched to painting my sister and my flaws. After that I switched to a more abstracted theme still dealing with color representation and specific family characteristics. My family has gone through some tough situations in the past seven years, but it has made us stronger and realizes that we will always need each other and that we can depend on one another no matter what. My mom is the only other one in my family that expresses her artistic side like myself and encourages me to travel and view many types of artwork.
Travel was never one of the things I wanted to do until I experienced three trips to help victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita down in Mississippi and Texas. While I was down helping, I would notice the different artwork in the family’s homes and see what that family was interested in. In a separate trip to Hungary, I was privileged to attend a museum that was featuring a Van Gogh and Rembrandt exhibit. Even though my work does not directly portray his style I enjoyed seeing the work face to face instead of online and in a book. Seeing his use of brushstrokes did incorporate into my abstracted family series. His bouquets really attracted me and connected to my love of flowers.
An inside force that influences my work is my future occupation. After graduation in the spring I plan on finding employment in the florist industry and using my knowledge of color harmonies to contribute to peoples special occasions. My current flower paintings are on paper and let me create the soft petals and represent the local color found within the petals and center. While I paint, I find myself daydreaming about my future and what I want to accomplish in my life. I want to work under someone for a few years to understand the basics and techniques, then slowly move up in the company and eventually buy into the company or start my own shop and create my own designs. 
