Heidi Thompson

Sky Blue

2015

Ruggero Vanni's Birth of Light is a 60 x 48 inch abstract gestural oil painting. It is an abstract landscape of vigorous brushstrokes and light, with a strong luminous central focus. The main colors are orange, yellow, and rust. There are clear references to the masters of the Hudson River School, also known as Luminism, as well as the Romantic paintings of English artist William Turner. Vanni states, "My works allude to natural phenomena, in a raw state, devoid of the limiting constrictions of literal representation. Nature is there, as a landscape, a view looking up in the air, or plunging down underwater. Imagery kept on the edge of recognition, so the final association is created in the mind. Contrasts of matter, color, light, are created to provoke emotional responses. In the large paintings the atmospheric composition is built by raised brushstrokes shattered and reassembled to reveal an underlying struggle. In the smaller works paper is cast tumultuously as a counterpoint to its inherent frailness. References to the history of painting are multiple and mixed: Venetian impasto and glazing, Luminist light, Abstract Expressionist texture, Baroque perspective. It is important to avoid mannerism, metabolize the suggestions and integrate them with empirical visual stimuli. Dissecting responses to everyday experiences into light, color, matter. There is no intent to escape reality, but to create a visual experience that communicates directly with our psyche; open to be reinterpreted continuously through our own evolution and the changing times." Ruggero Vanni was born in Paris. He studied painting from 1973 to 1978 at the Istituto d’Arte in Rome, Italy, under the guidance of Italian artist Michelangelo Conte...

Parris Jaru's Black and White is a 18 x 15 inches oil painting. The surface is defined by a thick impasto of paint, made with plant based pigments that Jaru collects himself during his long exploratory trips through India. The main colors are black, white and gray. The surface is scraped and incised with words and signs, almost like graffiti on a wall or inscriptions on an archaeological fragment. Parris was born in NY and grew up in St. Ann's Bay, Jamaica, until he was ten years old. Partly Jamaican and Blackfoot Indian from his father's side and partly Arawak Indian from his mother, Parris brings into his creative process a wonderful mix of different ethnicities that reflects throughout his work. The artist states "Throughout my life I have always been dedicated to Art but painting has added a patience of perception and love to my conscience mind, as well cultivating my unconscious. Painting gives me a confidence and inner security that has been hard for me to attain elsewhere. When I say a piece has turned out really well, a certain balance has been achieved between composition, perspective, color and depth giving my creative side a jolt. Although my works change frequently in form depending on mood and inspiration, the one thing that remains the same in all my works is an abstract touch. I am drawn mostly to abstract expression for the free-flowing aspect of creation. My favorite material is Plant-Pigment-Powder (ex; Sea Algae, Hibiscus, Gymnema Sylvestre and Turmeric powder. Mixing these pigments reminds me that nature is the purest example of artistic perfection and composition open to interpretation for all. With this understanding I am able to open communications with the energies of nature. the main purpose of these herbs are for medicinal healing, when I add it to my medium it adds an ethereal quality to my works. When I select my materials, I am very specific with my choices, after trial and error I work exclusively with denser herbs giving me the texture I desire and is compatible with oil paints and acrylics, adding depth and longevity to the works. Although I am drawn to blues, reds and blacks for body, my favorite colors are the highlights, whites, yellows, and light grey. I know a piece is done when it feels right, with clarity, movement and composition also complementing my sense of imagination. When my work is going well, I am filled with a sense of wonder and creative joy open to all possibilities of creation. When people see my painting’s I like them to share a part of my thoughts and inspiration, looking at the artist and his works from the inside. I reach my end goal when the painting has connected another link in the chain of an individual’s emotions." Related keywords: Caribbean Artist, Brooklyn Artist, American Indian artist, Figurative Painting, Poems, Poetry, Ancient Fragment...

Ruggero Vanni's Conflictio Confluens II (Convergence of Conflicts in Latin) is a 46.5 x 52 inch abstract gestural oil painting. It is a landscape of colors and light, with a strong a...

Andrei Petrov's "Pride and Joy" is a 12 x 48 inch abstract landscape painting on canvas. The main colors are blue, purple, and orange. The reference to a natural landscape is clearly...