20 August 2016

Shaped by Circumstance

The year so far has been full of distinct professional opportunities. I've participated in shows and collaboratively developed images for a historical book. These various projects and exhibitions have pushed and pulled my sensibilities.

Cover art, Bold Women of Montana by Beth Judy. (Forthcoming from Mountain Press)

For a contemporary Surrealism show I was drawn to working with dreams. 

Dreaming a Kindred Spirit, 2015. Diptych: Graphite & oil on wood panels, each 8x10".

For the annual Art About Agriculture exhibition the imagery of American agricultural fields was in order.

Sow, 2016. Graphite & oil on wood panel, 30x40".

And more recently, the Montana Water show presented me with a chance to focus on water and  riparian environments. 

Freshet II, 2016. Graphite & oil on wood panel, 8x10".

While all the work I have done for publications and exhibitions has been authentic, it has also been diverse, perhaps even divergent. More immediate inspirations have sometimes been neglected or delayed in pursuit of work that relates to externally proposed themes. I feel the need to ponder what  self-determined imagery speaks to my current concerns and interests.

I don't regret this "push and pull". It has opened the scope of my visualization. I want that scope to be vast, and such invitations to work with varied themes is part of that expansion. What's more, it seems natural that artistic endeavor is shaped by circumstance, as our daily lives are.

Over the next several weeks, by way of review, I hope to relate what was at the heart of these diverse  series and where they have taken me with the field of vision opening before me now.

4 comments:

  1. I don't follow blogs, I'd never get anything done! But, I love your artwork, I believe you are enormously talented, and I am so glad you share so many of the great images you have created that you do on social media. It has been a delight for me to observe from afar.

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  2. Beautiful work Stephanie.

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  3. Dear Dreamer - You have fabulous vision; you work out of your head more than any other painter I've met. We are lucky to know a remarkable talent. Dream on.

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  4. Wonderful works and a thoughtful reflection. Loved having you in our shows this year; looking for more opportunities in the future!

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