About the Exhibition:

As an artist it is exciting to be able to use the elements and principles of art in creating my paintings. Color and shape are the two elements of art that are basic to my compositions.

Using a limited palette: warm and cool red, warm and cool yellow, warm and cool blue and white, I enjoy the excitement of mixing and combining colors. To me this is the joy of painting. Laying out the composition as an underpainting using one primary color gives me the basis for my painting. Spots of this color may be seen in the finished composition adding life to the painting. I use the colors to build and develop the shapes of objects in my composition. The Fauves, Georgia O’Keefe, David Hockney, Martha Hayden, and Monet have influenced my use of color while I simplify the shapes in the composition.

Although I am a plein air painter most of the paintings in this exhibit are studio works based on my plein air sketches and my photos. I’ve been exploring barns and silos because our Wisconsin barns are disappearing leaving silos breaking the horizon.

Some of the paintings I chose for this show are abstract and non-objective works. Abstract art has to make sense according to the visual language that is explicitly established by the artist. You may find objects you recognize but they are not the subject matter. In creating the paintings I chose to explore the elements of art: color, line, form, shape, space, texture, and value and the principles of composition: balance, emphasis, movement, proportion, rhythm, unity, and contrast, which are made using the elements of art.

How to assemble the elements so that the viewer can easily understand/relate to the painting is the challenge for the abstract artist. In creating my compositions I may concentrate on a specific element, shape, or principle, movement. The painting/composition will grow as I “play with” the design and idea I am trying to capture.

In viewing abstract art look for the elements and principles of art. Is it a color? the contrast between colors? that attracts your attention? You, the viewer, need to interpret the painting using your life experiences and observations.

If interested in purchasing any of Sybil’s work, please email: sbkrtist @ yahoo.com