Featured Artists
Steve Wilson
“A Year in the Life”
So many things happen in the course of a year. New experiences, people, places and grandchildren, help you look at life a little differently. As an artist, I spend my time studying these experiences, the light against the dark, the quickly changing expression on a face, the ever-changing colors of the landscape, all things that entice me to paint. Taking the time to study the day to day experiences and purposely looking at common objects through a different lens, creates the subjects of many of my paintings.
As I go through a typical day, I take note of these shadows, shapes and colors. Common objects creating a perfect subject. This show reflects the colors and subjects of a typical year… the way I see it portrayed in daily encounters.
Many of these paintings are done with a limited pallet. As I painted, I retrieved the setting from my mind’s eye to create a familiar image portrayed, as I saw it. A longer deeper shadow. A softer sky. The chaotic yet geometric flight of the snow geese. The intricacy of the repeated pattern of the bee hive. I concentrated on the mood by bringing the large point of the subject closer, to create a sense of intensity. As I watched the snow geese at Middle Creek, I saw thousands of flying wings with intertwined layers and shapes of white and gray. Glancing down at my canvas roll of brushes, as I painted a mural outside, I took note of the oak leaves that found their way into my space. These are the images that represent a fleeting, yet remarkable, moment in “A Year in A Life”.
Teresa Haag
“The Middle”
Working in oils on top of newspaper covered board, I sketch in my subject directly with paint and work in thin layers allowing areas of the newspaper to show through creating noise and adding depth to the piece. I start my paintings on a surface of absolute chaos…random stories and images of the city screaming at me in all directions. As I paint, I am slowly building order. The idea that we are all connected through place is a theme that I have been focusing heavily on. I want viewers to walk away from my work armed with a new lens to see the world.
Biography
Art has been the constant in my life. In 2011 I quit my corporate job to pursue a full-time art career. Balancing 2 boys and a new art career proved challenging but worth every late night at the easel. My roots are in Rochester, NY, a blue-collar city of heavy industry that can easily be seen as a major influence in my work.
Today, I work out of my studio storefront in vibrant Downtown Phoenixville, PA. Phoenixville, an old steel mill town once known for manufacturing, is now best known for its rebirth symbolized by the Phoenix. A truly unique and exciting place to live. I spend my days in the studio with a brush in my hand or out exploring new places to paint.