Nancy Merkle

Fall Afternoon, Oil Painting

2020

Artist Comments
Artist Valerie Berkely presents a fiery sunset above thick silhouetted trees. The warm rays of the sun brighten the landscape with cooling hues of violet spreading across the forest floor. With her finger painting technique, Valerie uses transparent oils on top of gold iridescent acrylic textures creating a luminescent glow. It results in a captivating image with a gentle flow of movement.

About the Artist
Valerie Berkely uses her finger tips as brushes to create her abstract paintings. For Valerie, the art is all about the process, the paint, her mood, and the moment. She admires the artist Wolf Kahn, who once said, “the picture is the conclusion of an experiment in which the hint of an image becomes actuality." Like Kahn, Valerie’s paintings combine pictorial landscapes with painterly abstraction. The vibrant primary colors capture the hues of the sun rising and setting, and the texture of her fingers across the surface divides sea, land, and sky. There is something very dreamy about these works, exemplified by their color, texture, and atmospheric quality. Valerie’s first “art epiphany” was seeing Seurat's La Grande Jatte at the Art Institute of Chicago. “Bowled me over! I actually fell down. And I knew I was to become a painter.”

Words that describe this painting: small, trees, sunlight, sun, sunset, oilpaint, nature, forest, impressionism, etching, impressionism, nature, oil painting, purple

Golden Glow...

Artist Comments
Artist Sherri Aldawood depicts a sunny, autumn day along the banks of Oak Creek in Sedona, Arizona. With the use of a harmonious color palette, Sherri conveys the warmth of the landscape with tones in yellow, orange, red, and olive. Dynamic brushwork represents various textures and the calm countryside.

About the Artist
Sherri Aldawood didn't intend to always paint flowers, but over time her love of gardens started to permeate her art. She focuses on the light and color of the flowers on the canvas. Sherri prefers alla prima, working with wet layers of paint instead of letting them dry. She keeps the paint as wet as possible by using walnut and clove oil...