TAG Gallery Interview: Katherine Kean

Trace in the Sky
oil on linen 30 x 40"
Katherine Kean

Katherine Kean's paintings reveal a serene center that can arise in the midst of nature’s turbulence.

What does a painted landscape offer that the natural landscape cannot?

A work of landscape art can create a view that doesn’t exist in a natural landscape. The painted landscape can be edited and rearranged, or come wholly or in part from the imagination. All of the elements of the landscape, including the element of time, can be put in an order that supports the artist’s vision. In my work, I might put a thunderstorm from one time and place together with a field of grass from another. I might emphasize the light to allow for more drama. I routinely remove buildings, people, and cars, or anything that does not contribute to the meaning – adding or taking away whatever I feel is called for to reach the mood and tell the story.

The path-like waterways in your paintings seem to invite the viewer into a docile and curious natural realm. Are you in-fact sending the viewer an invitation?

The meandering, serpentine pathways invite the viewer to wander, to free the mind, to contemplate or explore, to dream and imagine, and ultimately they are an invitation to one’s inner world, to one’s Self.


Wayward
oil on linen 18 x 24"
Katherine Kean

Can you describe the feeling when your idea of the painting that will-be comes to a finish?

It can take some time to realize that a painting is complete. I’ll often let a painting rest while I work on others – the drying process in oils creates subtle shifts in color that I need to see. Once dry I’ll have a fresh look and may decide to add something; another glaze, a highlight, whatever is needed. However, there’s a moment when I realize that there’s nothing else to add, which often takes me by surprise. This feeling is followed quickly by the excitement of wanting to show the new painting to someone, to share it.

If you had to part with every piece of work but one, which would it be?

The one that I can clearly visualize in my mind’s eye, but I haven’t painted yet – the next one.

Does where you live now hold any influence in your painting?

I have a great respect and appreciation for the places that continue to hold space for that which is still undomesticated, for what is wild. I’m lucky to live quite close to the edge of a National Forest and have easy access to vast and unimpeded views. I hope that the proximity helps some of that sense of wildness and freedom to reflect in my work.


Katherine Kean in the studio.

Katherine Kean's exhibition at TAG opens November 2.

Sally Jacobs Interview

Garden Flowers
watercolor 22 x 27"
Sally Jacobs


Sally Jacob's enjoyment of the natural world shines through in her precise botanical watercolors.

Whom do you make art for?

I wonder sometimes if I would create art if no one except me ever viewed it. I love the process, so I guess my primary audience is me. But I also love to show my work, to share my joy.

Would you collect your own work if you saw it in a gallery? Why or why not?

I have pieces that I can’t part with, so yes, I do collect some of my work. Some pieces I keep for sentimental reasons; others because I can’t imagine ever doing the subject again.

Can someone be taught to be an artist or is it an innate ability?

I think much can be taught. But like anything else, it’s 80% perspiration. Maybe the part that is innate is the motivation to create art; I feel that strongly. As frustrating and challenging as it can be, I’m happy when I’m drawing or painting; the motivation is there.


So I Won't Run Out
watercolor 21 x 17"
Sally Jacobs

What is your biggest fear?

I have lots of fears but the biggest one that relates to my art is anything that would disable my hands. My work is so detailed; I need a great deal of hand control. So far, so good.

What excites you about painting?

I paint from life and get great pleasure in really observing plant life. When you study it, the complexity and beauty of the simplest flower, fruit or vegetable is inspiring. If I can make a plant come to life and have people pause and really observe what they may have seen in passing hundreds of times, then that work is a success.


Sally Jacobs in the studio.

Sally Jacobs exhibition opens November 2, 2010.

An Interview With Susie McKay Krieser

Girl With the Curl

acrylic on canvas 40 x 20"

Susie McKay Krieser 

Susie McKay Krieser’s bold and vibrant works explore the divergence of stimulation and serenity.

When did you first realize you were an artist - or have the courage to identify yourself as an artist?

My college degree is in Art, with a Business minor. I concentrated on Graphic Design and Photography. When I graduated, I worked as a Graphic Designer and a Cartographer. I became a real estate salesperson and discontinued my art for more than 30 years. Six years ago, after having taken a year of art classes, I was approached by two interior designers, who owned a store in Lake Tahoe. They asked me to frame my work and sell it in their store. That was the beginning of my professional life as an artist.

Can anybody be taught to be an artist or is it an innate ability?

I believe it is an innate ability, although everyone can be shown how to do it, and learn to enjoy the process. It is important to not have expectations and just let the magic happen. Making art frees us up mentally, putting us in touch with our spirit.



Have you learned any new techniques this year? If so, will you share what they are?

I learned how to do screen printing, which I am excited about incorporating into my paintings. I already use my photography in my mixed media paintings, and would love to do a version of it on canvas.


How do you decide on your palette?

My palette is a very subjective thing. It has to do with how I am feeling on a particular day. I find that oftentimes, the colors in my outfit are reflected in my art. My art is all about color and shape, and the correlation of one to the other.

Pink Cadillac

acrylic on canvas 24 x 24"

Susie McKay Krieser 

What excites you about painting?

I love mixing colors together and then figuring out the juxtaposition of the shapes. I love the challenge of reducing what I see to it’s essence, while still being able to articulate it. My goal is to find the essence of the forms.

Where do you find inspiration? Does your own life experience play a role in your imagery?

I continually push myself to see life in a new light, guiding me in new directions. Live models and my photography also serve as inspiration. I study the great works of Wayne Thiebaud, Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Amedeo Modigliani, Alex Katz, Rene Magritte and myriad of other fine artists. Studying art is exciting.

Whom do you make art for?

I make art foremost for myself, because it speaks to my soul. I also enjoy sharing it with others and the highest compliment in the world, is for them to enjoy my work. I feel that Spirit works through me, and that my work can bring comfort and inspiration to others.



Susie McKay Krieser

Susie McKay Krieser's exhibit opens November 2, 2010.

New Exhibition Featuring Anne M Bray, Karen Florek, Joe Pinkelman, and Stephanie Visser October 5- 30, 2010

Reception:
Saturday, October 9, 5- 8 PM

Artists' Q & A Panel:
Thursday, October 14, 7 PM

Anne M Bray, "RoadTrip"

Anne M Bray's roadscapes are a celebration of fleeting moments frozen in time. Whether depicting urban or rural settings, or the roads in between, her works create windows of contemplation for her viewers to get lost in the moment themselves. Working from photographs taken while driving cross country, Bray then interprets the images in the studio, simplifying the compositional elements with chalk pastels.

Karen Florek, "Seeing Through: The Function of Light"

In her latest exhibition, Seeing Through: The Function of Light, Karen Florek uses light, film, found materials, and x-rays to explore below the surface of what is obvious to the eye, and uncovers the essential role light plays not only in our real world, but in our language as well. Her photographs of the completed images capture how light can evoke feeling, enhance an emotion, reveal our vulnerabilities, and create drama.

Joe Pinkelman, "New Ceramics from Jingdezhen, China"

Destruction and re-creation strike a delicate balance in Joe Pinkelman's three dimensional forms in his latest exhibit. The forms of Joe Pinkelman's work consistently appear to tip, balance, fragment, and reconnect in a myriad of patterns and designs. The physicality of the clay fuses delicacy and solidity. The metaphysical aspect of the clay is that shapes are created, destroyed, and recreated.

Stephanie Visser, "Mysterium"

In her latest exhibit, Mysterium, Stephanie Visser's mixed media artwork moves away from the predominantly geometric forms of previous exhibitions to much more ethereal, moody and emotive images - although still reminiscent of landscape and skyscape, both urban and rural. Built layer by layer through translucent color washes; scumbled color upon color; and scratched in line and collage; each piece represents a "mind photograph" that hints at everyday life and its impact.