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Figurative Art & Contemporary

Figurative Painters

ColleCting ResouRCe guide

Michelle Torrez, Clouds, oil, 20 x 20.

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“Though I have

considerable interest

in Europe and

traveling, I am most

content in simply

working and allowing

the world that I’m

creating to unfold

before my eyes.”

indeed, figurative artists enter the secluded

universe of their studios and get lost in cap-

turing the many moods of their models and

muses. Welcome to our special figurative

issue, in which we introduce you to an ex-

citing cadre of artists working in this time-

honored genre. these masterful painters

pick up charcoal sticks, pencils, and brushes

to create a line, then another and another.

For the uninitiated, it’s a bit of magic to be-

hold: lines coalesce to bring a figure to life,

offering us a window into the range of emo-

tions and truths that comprise the human

condition—our joys, strengths, disappoint-

ments, and dreams, all reflected in a face or

a gesture. Flip through the following pages

and contemplate the mystery, meanings,

and beauty evoked by a sampling of today’s

top figurative painters.

Models, Muses & MagicThe great figurative painter Nathan Oliveira once said…

Joseph Todorovitch, Succulents, oil, 40 x 30.

Lane Timothy, Boys and their Toys, oil, 48 x 60.


Vintage AmericanaLane Timothy creates classic scenes with a contemporary twist

B y R o s e m a R y C a R s t e n s

Like a mOderN-day time traveler, artist Lane Timothy wanders through the decades to portray images of times past. His vibrant paintings of American life and culture evoke memories of simpler eras. And his distinctive retro style sets him apart from the pack.

Timothy lives and paints on the top floor of an urban loft in the heart of Salt Lake City’s art district. Originally a fac-tory, the loft looks out onto busy streets, and the artist often spends long hours people-watching from his balcony or gazing beyond the city skyline to the Wasatch Mountains. With large open spaces and 20-foot-high windows, it’s an ideal work environment with plenty of room and light. Some of Timothy’s earlier pieces hang on the walls and numerous works in progress sit on easels awaiting final touches.

He’s often so immersed in research or interested in what’s going on outside his windows that it’s not unusual for early evening to roll around before he begins to paint. He loves those quiet, hushed hours in his perch high above the city, when the energy outside dies down, and it’s just him, the paint, and the scene before him on the canvas. Lively jazz or bluegrass plays in the background, and he quickly falls under the spell—that “old black Alley Cat, oil, 60 x 48.


magic” of a bygone era. He often works until 3 or 4 o’clock in the morning, us-ing professional lighting to make certain his colors remain consistent no matter the time of day. This is especially impor-tant since he tends to work from one side of a painting to the other, completing whole segments as he goes rather than working one color at a time throughout the composition.

Beginning a new piece, he first applies an underpainting in the scene’s domi-nant colors, then blocks in basic shapes, sketches in his composition, and lays in the lights and darks in a monotone. At that point, he sets the painting aside to dry under a heat lamp and turns to an-other in progress. Timothy does not work wet paint into wet paint, but prefers the crisp, bright color he feels is only pos-sible by working coat by coat. “Color is important because it has so much to do with how my figurative work stands out from others,” says the artist. “Drying each layer completely before brushing on the next ensures that all colors hold their power—skin tones are brighter, blues more vivid. Everyone can use more color in their lives!”

To create his signature, highly finished canvases, Timothy combines loose, trans-parent brush strokes to create a subtle glow in facial features with flurries of heavier strokes to indicate movement and dimensionality. In the tranquil scene portrayed in THE GARDEN TERRACE, the woman’s face is alight with softness and femininity, while the artist’s more dynamic strokes in her skirt, his skilled capture of highlights and silken shine, create strong awareness of her body. He develops the polished surface of each painting by applying numerous washes and glazes, building slowly, layer by layer. The artist has explored various me-diums, but emphasizes, “I love oils. They are so forgiving. I can create beautiful hues and a more dimensional effect. It’s the only medium for me now.”

As a work nears completion, he does a final check to make sure his color palette is distributed evenly to result in a comprehensive whole. But, he ad-mits, it’s hard to let go: “I never know when to stop—I could go on and on. I finally had to make a rule for myself. Once I sign it, I never touch a painting again.”

Boys and Their Toys, oil, 48 x 60.

The Garden Terrace (detail), oil, 36 x 24.


Solitude, oil, 48 x 36.


BOrN aNd raised in Missoula, MT, with six siblings, Timothy knew from an early age that art was his destiny. Both of his parents encouraged his interest as he dabbled in watercolors, acrylics, pastels, and pencils as a child. By the age of 7 he had sold his first painting to his second-grade teacher for $10. A few years later at a store’s closeout sale, Timothy bought a bucketful of oil paints for $25 and dis-covered the medium he would work in from then on. In 1993 he was awarded a Charles Russell National Art Scholarship, which he used to attend the University of Montana, where he excelled in art and graphic design. Always restless and a bit of a renegade, Timothy soon dropped out of college to start a graphic design com-pany, preferring to develop his own ar-tistic style from scratch rather than from formal classes. Two years later he again sought change and accepted a key design

position in Salt Lake City with a high- profile advertising firm. But he found it wasn’t for him. He longed to return to painting and, in 1997, despite the benefits of working for a prestigious company, he returned to Montana to be a full-time artist. He just was 22.

Today, having returned to Salt Lake City, Timothy is more focused and ener-gized than ever and spends long hours at the easel. He never hires models, but prefers instead to have friends and his former wife pose for him, which he feels brings more realism and greater diver-sity to his subjects. His reputation over the past decade has spread like a prairie wildfire; his work is regularly exhibited in galleries and is held in celebrity and private collections throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

Early in his career, Timothy experi-mented with various styles and subject

matter, painting people and scenes that reflected his life in the West.

It took a while before hitting his stride and finding his own unmistakable voice, but find it he did. “I’m focused on con-temporary figurative work with a vintage twist,” he confirms.

Airplanes, trains, motorcycles, scoot-ers, trucks, and cars from the 1940s and ’50s figure prominently in Timo-thy’s slice-of-life vignettes. Family his-tory and memories provide him with a deep well of inspiration for his work. Growing up, he often heard tales about his grandfather’s World War II piloting adventures. And he flew sidekick with his father, who piloted single-engine Cessnas over Montana’s jagged moun-tains peaks and open plains. His father also built hot rods as a hobby, which sparked Timothy’s loves of classic Ameri-can automobiles. His painting BELLE AIR-ESS tells it all in the exaggerated, dramat-ic swoop of fin on a turquoise and white 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air, his high school dream car. One of his favorite pastimes is to hunt for props for his paintings.

Timothy’s fascination with modes of

Belle Airess, oil, 48 x 48.Departure, oil, 60 x 48.

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American Dreamer II, oil, 48 x 60.

His work conveys the feel of days gone by with a fabulous air of nostalgia.”

Timothy is a painter immersed in his-tory. It constantly whispers in his ear, conjuring generations and events before his own. But he avoids talking about what inspires specific paintings. “I want to draw viewers into a painting, to suggest a story but leave something to their own inventiveness,” says the artist. “I want a painting to bring a smile to their faces, and I want its ‘meaning’ to be framed by their experiences and memories, not mine. I don’t want to spoil that.” F

Rosemary Carstens, editor of the award-winning webzine FEAST, is writing a book about Mexico City artist Annette Nancarrow, a contemporary of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo.

clear, including the boots and cowboy hat, the guitar case, the long empty road, and the look of anticipation and hope on the girl’s face. The painting’s narrative is rendered with exquisite skill and control, and yet there is room for individual inter-pretation.

Influenced by the work of John Sargent Singer as well as Norman Rockwell’s all-American paintings, Timothy creates emotional connections through his por-trayals of ordinary people. Even when painting war-related scenes, he tries to show “the more tender sides of war”—the caring between comrades, for instance, or the longing for those left behind. Each painting suggests the innocence of an earlier time, the unbroken line be-tween family and community. For the viewer, there’s always the sense that a story is waiting in the wings. As Diane Waterhouse of Waterhouse Gallery in Santa Barbara, CA, expresses it, “Lane’s work is unique. It has atmosphere, it’s edgy and stylized. It has individuality.

travel from earlier eras fits naturally with his love of figurative work. The attitude of the people in his paintings suggests that trips back then were more romantic, more adventurous, and filled with more possi-bility than the frenzy encountered today in airports and on the highways. He fre-quently portrays people on the verge of arriving or departing, prompting viewers to wonder about the narrative arc of the scene and the stories of the people in it. “It is very easy to place yourself in one of his pieces,” says Christi Bonner Manu-elito of Bonner David Galleries in Scott-sdale, AZ, which represents Timothy’s work. “His work is an invitation to per-sonally experience a treasured memory.”

In STARS IN HER EYES, everything that makes Timothy’s work immediately recognizable is present: brushwork so smooth it fades into the background and deep, vivid hues—including his signature bright red—that frame the girl’s features boldly against a twilight sky. Nothing is extraneous; each nuance of the story is

Wrapped in Rainbows, oil, 10 x 8. Pink Umbrella, oil, 12 x 12.


OuTside micheLLe Torrez’s win-dow, snow is tumbling down from the skies, wrapping blankets of white around two maple trees in her front yard. Inside her home studio, it’s cozy and warm. She likes to call it “a cluttered cave.” The 8-by-10-foot space contains the usual: books, easels, paints, and canvases. Perched on a faux Greek column there’s a lamp that

Symphony in Motionmichelle Torrez’s figures move with expressive energy

B y B o n n i e g a n g e l h o F F

casts a warm light on her easel, and over-head a set of ceiling fan lights shed a cool light—together they simulate natural il-lumination. Torrez rents a 2,000-square-foot studio a few blocks away, but lately she prefers the ease of hopping out of bed and going right to work in her nearby cre-ative cocoon.

On this particular day she is reflecting


mastery of an artistic skill such as ballet.That said, a Torrez painting bears

other signature elements as well. Her expressionistic strokes often evoke a symphony of movement. The lines go a long way in defining her forms and cre-ating an energy that vibrates from the canvas—whether it’s the sensuous, liq-uid embrace of two tango dancers or the carefree joy of a young girl prancing

If You Cut Me I Will Shine, oil, 24 x 12. SSSmokin, oil, 24 x 12.

vre, the observer is left with the sense that the artist’s cadre of females in-cludes some tough cookies. The women may wear sexy, elegant gowns, but they stare out from the canvas with a take-no- prisoners look. The stares, glares, pos-tures, and body language of the Torrez women convey strength while just as easily projecting other aspects of the fe-male persona—joy, thoughtfulness, or

on the past year and realizes a pattern has emerged in her recent works. “Mostly I’ve painted beautiful women,” she says. “But the women I paint, even when they are seductive, are strong women. These are not victims or delicate flowers. No one bought the women in my paintings the dresses they are wearing; they bought the darn dresses themselves.”

Indeed, in reviewing her current oeu-


across a windswept field.Kim English, a well-known Denver

painter, recalls that Torrez first entered his class at the Art Students League of Denver nine years ago. She was like many beginning painters, he notes: “They smear around the paint and try to make the painting resemble what they are look-ing at. Michelle did that for awhile, but she was never happy with the results. And then she started making interesting lines—big, bold lines. She also started making big, free strokes. They were a little out of control at first, but she reined them in. And then she just took off.”

Today, Torrez paints in informal fig-ure drawing sessions with English and a few other Denver-area fine artists. Eng-lish says he is always impressed with her paint application because, like her lines, there’s always a feeling of motion. “There’s a lot of energy,” he says. “She is most creative about what she picks to paint and how she sees the world.”

TOrrez is The firsT to admit that she may see the world differently than many other artists. For starters, she didn’t have the easiest childhood or take the typical route to a fine-art career. She Fanatic Hearts, oil, 36 x 18.

Immortal Silence Sleeps, oil, 18 x 36.

grew up in a tough Denver neighborhood, the oldest of four children. With both parents working, Torrez was frequently called on to babysit her younger brother, who is severely autistic but was undi-agnosed at the time. It was an era when there wasn’t much support or informa-tion about the disorder. And the house-hold was chaotic. “We could wake up at 2 a.m. and my brother would be moving all the furniture to the middle of the house. Or he might be cutting off my hair. No one slept in that house for years,” she remembers.

From an early age, she turned to art as a refuge. “I often invented a very happy, beautiful world—a place where I wanted to be,” she recalls. “I loved to color and make things. I would go into the alley and find cigarettes and matches and make miniature hospitals out of them.” Later Torrez did draw-ings for her junior high yearbook. And she learned how to survive. In her rough urban school, she entertained the tough-est girls with pictures of naked men. Delighted by her handiwork, they in turn protected Torrez.

Torrez describes herself as rebellious back in those days. She was kicked out of high school, married at 17, the mother of

www.SouthweStArt.com 11Ebony Eyes, oil, 16 x 10.


tional Airport. In 2007, Denver’s Mizel Museum mounted a group show, 10 Global Artists Interpret Genocide, and Torrez again was asked to exhibit her African paintings. She donated all the proceeds from the sale of her works to help pur-chase food and medicine for the Suda-nese victims.

“It really gave me a sense of pur-pose. That I could do something I love and make a difference in the world,” she says. “I want to create meaningful work that lifts people up and connects people to each other and offers a deeper under-standing of humanity.” Torrez figures she inherited her social conscience from her mother, who eventually became one of the founders of the Autism Society of Colorado, a resource, research, and sup-port group. “I was raised with the idea

two by 20, and divorced by 23. But edu-cation was always important. Around the time of her divorce, she earned her GED and went on to study passive-solar design in college. But jobs in the field were scarce, and she returned to her first love, art.

In 1987, she graduated from the Colo-rado Institute of Art in Denver with a de-gree in advertising design. She and her two daughters moved to Dallas, where she worked as a graphic designer. But more and more her heart belonged to fine art. Growing weary of days spent in front of a computer, she decided to return to Colorado, where she opened a mural and faux-finishing business to support her family. She also started tak-ing classes at the Art Students League of Denver with English, whom she credits with teaching her how to paint. Soon her work was selling at the league’s art shows and hanging in galleries.

Although her road to a career in fine art was more difficult and circuitous than some artists, she has learned a lot on her particular journey. “I think it has taught me to look deeper,” she says. “For example, I had to read my brother all the time to determine what mood he was go-ing through. Now, I try to read people to create a work that communicates on a human level—so you can understand and connect with the person in the painting.”

With a successful career established, Torrez isn’t content to rest on her lau-rels. She relishes stepping outside her comfort zone. In 2003, when she heard about a Swiss human rights organiza-tion that was going to Sudan to attempt to rescue people out of slavery, Torrez signed up for the trip.

“Radical Muslims had taken over the government and they were trying to eliminate all dark-skinned races. It was genocide,” Torrez says. “They were kill-ing the men and raping the women and training the children to become soldiers. I wanted to document this and put a face on the human suffering there.”

She spent two weeks with the orga-nization in Sudan and sketched and took reference photos—material she turned into a series of paintings when she returned home. The paintings were displayed in a show at Denver’s Abend Gallery and also at the Denver Interna-

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Clouds, oil, 20 x 20.

that if you can help someone, you do it,” Torrez says.

As this story was going to press, Tor-rez was hard at work in her studio creat-ing paintings for a February solo show at Shaw Gallery in Naples, FL. A bevy of strong women are emerging on her can-vases. When asked about the reoccur-ring theme, she replies, “because that’s the way I am. My paintings are about strength, but they also reflect different aspects of myself and my experiences in the world.” F

Bonnie Gangelhoff is the senior editor at Southwest Art.


Eyes on the Prizefigurative artist Joseph Todorovitch works hard for his success

B y V i R g i n i a C a m p B e l l

The pasT few years have been mo-mentous for California figurative painter Joseph Todorovitch. In April 2009, his painting ANTIQUES won the Grand Prize at the Portrait Society of America’s inter-national competition in Washington, D.C. The previous year he’d won the People’s Choice Award in the same competition and also signed on for exclusive repre-sentation with Arcadia Fine Arts, a New York gallery he had long admired. Major prizes and new representation have given Todorovitch the confidence to become even more focused in his work, finding new expression within the traditional discipline of figurative painting.

While his winning piece from the 2008 competition sold for around $40,000, well above the artist’s usual range, Todoro-vitch did not want to sell the grand prize painting. ANTIQUES was simply too spe-cial to him. It is certainly an eloquent introduction to Todorovitch’s work for anyone who has not seen his paintings. He painted it with the Portrait Society competition specifically in mind. “After doing well in 2008, I set out to make a more significant painting—larger and

Antiques, oil, 46 x 30.


more ambitious,” says the 31-year-old art-ist. “I wanted to paint a very subtle por-trait, to really articulate the flesh tones, just like what you see in real life.”

The model who posed for ANTIQUES is a close friend of the artist. “I like paint-ing people I know,” says Todorovitch. “Kristin is very supportive of art, and she’s a patient, comfortable soul. She was able to convey the qualities I wanted, like simplicity and calm. I wanted this paint-ing to be a personal painting of a friend in an unusual environment, yet one that

speaks about her character. I chose the antique store because we both like to go antiquing, and we crave those kinds of things around us.” The personal quality of ANTIQUES had many dimensions, ac-cording to the artist: “Sometimes I am interested in capturing the model’s state of mind, and sometimes I’m interested in having the model represent my state of mind.” In this painting, it is easy to con-clude that he is painting both.

His approach to this piece—his most ambitious to date—is an example of his

artistic strategy. “The articles in the painting are antiques, but their arrange-ment is contemporary,” he notes. “The items are unified by a common thread of craft and style and attention to detail. And then there is a unique arrangement of color.” The unusual color of the mod-el’s tights create an eerily beautiful har-mony with her gold top, the blue settee, and lacy drapes. “Kristin arrived wearing those tights,” he says. “I had never seen gray tights before.”

The gray tights also serve to emphasize

Drawing Class, oil, 12 x 12.


convey in ANTIQUES,” says Todorovitch. “The slightest change in a figure’s posi-tion can dramatically change how the painting is perceived.” In many paintings Degas was a master of that calculus, as well as the use of composition to convey psychological information.

Bouguereau, an academic salon painter of highly refined pieces, was celebrated in his time but later fell out of favor. Only in recent years has there been a re-newed interest in his works. “His figures are extremely convincing, with multiple figures in very complex compositions. And the intermingling of flesh tones is amazing,” observes Todorovitch, who is in awe of Bouguereau’s subtle handling of skin. If one could imagine a painting

les Academy of Figurative Art. Painting people has always had a profound hold on Todorovitch, encompassing all the complexities of representational paint-ing plus the challenge of portraying re-alistic flesh tones, and, more important, evoking the emotions of the people them-selves. The subtleties of his endeavors have led him to regard several artists as inspirations. Among them are Edgar Degas and William Bouguereau, who, while near-contemporaries during the 1800s, were very different in style.

Degas, broadly identified as an Im-pressionist, had a modern psychological orientation from which Todorovitch has learned a great deal. “I think of Degas when I think of the ideas I was trying to

her legs, which are positioned to suggest that she has just tentatively taken a seat or is about to get up. “In every painting I do, I like to highlight some area of ana-tomical structure, and in this case it’s her legs,” says the artist. The positioning of the legs echoes the sharp curves of the settee’s arms and constitutes the most dynamic compositional lines in the paint-ing. The contemporary body language combined with formal furniture from an-other era results in a painting both com-pelling and ambiguous.

TOdOrOviTch grew up in San Gabriel, CA, and earned a degree in art from California State University, Fuller-ton. He then studied at the Los Ange-

Choices, oil, 18 x 24.

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that was two-thirds Degas and one-third Bouguereau, it might look like rather like a Todorovitch.

One of the things Todorovitch particu-larly admires about Bouguereau is his tireless work ethic. Bouguereau’s style was labor-intensive to begin with, and on top of that he had a strict ethical dedica-tion to painting. Todorovitch can identify with that. Early in his career he worked multiple jobs to support himself and his young son, Ezra, who was born when Todorovitch was just 20. Finding the time to paint was hard-won, and he was care-ful not to waste it.

At the time he painted psychologically evocative portraits of friends, people he knew from the art world and the local music scene. Those paintings were gen-erally less complex than his work now, but they exhibited that striking quality that Todorovitch naturally captures and emphasizes on canvas. Five years ago his life began to change significantly when a gallery in Laguna Beach became his ex-clusive representative and began to sell his work consistently.

“Suddenly I didn’t need other jobs anymore,” says Todorovitch. “I had just been offered a job by UPS. I’d worked for them before, loading planes, and had to call to turn down the job.” There is a slight tinge of regret in Todorovitch’s voice when he recalls this, as he has an almost old-fashioned respect for hard work, whatever the activity.

With his focus now on painting, his artwork has shown rapid gains, espe-cially in his handling of paint and his willingness to tackle more complex com-positions. That’s partly because he moved into a bigger, better studio instead of a bigger, better apartment. The larger stu-dio allowed him not only to paint more effectively, but also to teach. Two nights a week he holds a workshop in his stu-dio, during which time he paints with his students. He also teaches one day a week, splitting his time between the L.A. Acad-emy of Figurative Art and the Laguna College of Art and Design. Todorovitch says he sees “a big difference” in his work now compared with what he produced four or five years ago. “The change,” he says, “is in my comfort with paint. With how it behaves and the possibilities that come from that—what it can do, what ideas it can convey.”

Succulents, oil, 40 x 30.

Todorovitch’s work is now finding a wider audience. He is thrilled to be rep-resented by Arcadia Fine Arts, noting, “Some of my favorite painters are there. I’ve admired the gallery since before I was with any gallery at all.” Todorovitch is now painting in two parallel efforts: He’s producing canvases to sell on an on-going basis in the gallery, and he’s creat-ing a body of work in preparation for his first one-man show at Arcadia, which is scheduled for October of this year. The gallery gives him wide berth in deter-mining what these new pieces should be. “They just say, ‘Take your time,’” says Todorovitch. “These are very thought-out

paintings. Complex and ambitious. They involve figures in elaborate settings. And they take much longer to do.”

Todorovitch’s awareness that he has a lot on the line right now expresses itself not so much in words but in his actions. He works long hours, whenever he is not teaching, taking care of Ezra, or sleeping. “I have no time for anything else, especially now,” he says. “I want to be diligent.” F

Virginia Campbell, the former editor in chief of Movieline, has also written for Elle Décor, Depar-tures, and Traditional Home.

Timothy NORMAN

With a commissioned portrait like RACHEL, inspiration is always found in the utterly fascinating revelation of the person painted. Depicting the beauty, grace, subtlety, and power of the human figure is the visual equiva-lent of a symphony, completely engaging the artist, subject, and viewer. Note the banquet scene depicted on the Japanese screen and the cranes in flight on the cloisonné vase, both adding symbolic richness to the work and further revelation of the person painted.

”“


The Feminine Forma range of interpretations of women and girls from 10 talented painters

Rachel, oil, 28 x 31.

I am inspired by clarity and mood. LOCKET presents a mood unencumbered by story particulars. The viewer is forced to participate.

”“

Aaron WESTERBERG


Locket, oil, 19 x 14.

The Feminine Form

I am always looking for an interesting and, to me, exciting way to paint form. A painting can be expressive and use dynamic brushwork while still exploring the nuances that suggest dimen-sion and turn a figure from light into shadow.

”“Carolyn

ANDERSON


Dancer Backstage, oil, 16 x 12.

The Feminine Form

I was in Mar del Plata in Argentina, on the big expansive beach there. The beach is such a part of family life, and there are chil-dren everywhere. I was caught by the graphic quality of this one girl against the ocean. I placed her in this array of soft colors against the shadow of the background. I loved doing this one!

”“Jeffrey

TERRESON


Kaleidoscope, oil, 42 x 44.

The Feminine Form

My intention was to capture the peaceful and re-laxed moment of the night. I used cool and calm col-ors in a horizontal composition to obtain this mood. I want people to identify with my figures, and it is al-ways important to me to achieve a connection between the figures and nature. Using my imagination in my work is a challenge I enjoy.

”“Zulia Gotay de

ANDERSON


Night Lights, oil, 24 x 30.

The Feminine Form

”

“Tom

BALDERAS

For me the painting CHILD AT HER TABLE is the perfect cross between my love of the figure and being outdoors. One sunny afternoon while I was painting a still-life set-up under a patio awning, my daughter Sophia approached and sat down at the table. The spontaneous scene before me and the type of light and color that poured over her over-whelmed my senses. I quickly ducked into the studio and retrieved a fresh canvas. She sat quietly while I painted rather quickly in the alla prima method. The light began to change, but that was not of concern because I realized I had already captured precisely what I was after—the sense of brilliant light, my daughter’s calm patience, and the wonder of the fleeting moment.


Child at Her Table, oil, 20 x 24.

The Feminine Form

”“Hsin-Yao

Tseng

This piece is one of the few I’ve done using natural lighting. The majority of my train-ing in school was with artificial light sources. I’ve recently begun to challenge myself with different lighting situations. I photographed the model, the sister of a friend, in various poses in my studio. The most eye-catching situation came from outdoor light through one of the windows. She starting playing with the ring on her finger, and at that moment I wanted to create something that evoked a sense of nostalgia, linking diffused backlighting with memories of when she received the ring.


Remember When, oil, 16 x 20.

The Feminine Form

”“Joan

BARBER

I like to leave interpretations of my work to viewers, but for me, this painting is about finding one’s balance amid the raptures and burdens we willingly expose our-selves to in our eager attempt to throw weight and light upon the myriad paths that surround us.


Weight of Fire, oil, 48 x 44.

The Feminine Form

”McCreery JORDAN

The painting CELESTE evolved from a photo I took of a little girl more than 20 years ago. I never had a daughter, and most everyone that sees the painting asks if it is me or my daughter. I believe subconsciously I created an image that represents the child in me and the daughter I never had. In the background are Elizabethan images found on playing cards (symbols I use a great deal in my work), which represent chance and fate.

“


Celeste, oil, 36 x 48.

The Feminine Form

I am inspired by my native Valencia. It’s my feeling that every color has its own sensuality, and the intensity of the Valencian light plays a fundamen-tal role in my work. My brushwork is vibrant, nervous, temperamental. My inspiration comes from the outdoors—from the beaches to the gardens— anywhere I can capture the ever-changing and contrasting light. This scene is nothing more than a point of reference. One never paints anything exactly as it is. My intention is to paint the sensations that I feel rather than realities I see.

”

“

Giner BUENO


En La Playa, oil, 26 x 18.

The Feminine Form

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