Elizabeth Schwartz: Seasons

Elizabeth Schwartz' exhibit Seasons opened at the gallery last Friday with a large reception and great weather downtown!

Sometimes, opening receptions are a challenging place to really "see" and experience an artist's work. Certainly, they're meant as a celebration of the culmination of the grand effort to produce a body of work, and Elizabeth was definitely celebrated!

Now's the time to come in and really experience her paintings! The piece to the left, Edge of Spring, is a good place to start looking at her work. As she says in her artist's statement, "The theme for this series was stimulated by my ongoing reflections on the meaning and passing of life's 'seasons', for which these paintings serve as a metaphor." Keeping this in mind, look at the painting and consider the artist's words, "Spring is the season of energy, anticipation and excitement. Possibilities seem endless." Think of how green that first grass and winter wheat looks. Is it because it's really greener? Or because it's been so long since our eyes last saw that color?

Schwartz' work focuses on evoking nature, rather than depicting nature. Her concern is similar to the Impressionists' interest in capturing the feeling of being in nature, the light, the color, rather than trying to replicate a specific scene. However, Schwartz is more interested in painting in bold color, rather than muted tones.

In her technical approach, she applies many layers of paint, sometimes bold, sweeping strokes over thin washes, sometimes delicate marks and layers made with a palette knife. Texture is important in Schwartz' work, giving the feeling of looking through trees, leaves and branches, on to that deeper level of the landscape.

Schwartz is fascinated with the contradictory forces of nature - "its unpredictable, humbling power, juxtaposed with its soothing seasonal rhythms". She says, "Many of these works are painted on a large scale in order to convey nature's grandeur and power, turbulence and beauty."

Stop on in to the gallery and see the grandeur and beauty for yourself!