Chicago - Still-life Paintings

"True North - Brief" is a dream-like view of the rising sun turning the deep blue sky into a blaze of orange at the horizon. The surreal quality of the imagery makes the viewer ques...

Carol Stewart Morning Glory, Clementine oil on paper on panel 8h x 8w x 1.50d in 20.32h x 20.32w x 3.81d cm CST016 Through her ethereal and often dreamlike paintings Carol Stewart i...

A study for a series of larger paintings based on motion capture studios, this painting combines classic technique with modern sensibility. Here the seated model leans against an antiquated iMac. Upon closer examination, the preparatory sketch lines are visible on the model's feet and her forearm. Unfinished works were first seen during the Renaissance with Masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and Donatello. It became fashionable to leave works incomplete, so much so, that it became an aesthetic term 'non-finito'. Andrew S. Conklin Kelsey Seated, Arm with iMac oil on panel 12h x 17w in 30.48h x 43.18w cm ACK011 Motion Capture Paintings, Chicago My recent painting series describes the reality of motion capture environments by showing the interplay between female athletes and male technicians. These paintings are meant to explore conventions of female representation in Western figurative art and to contrast this past practice with the contemporary imagery of that subject via computer-based image technology. This project was instigated by a number of things: first, by my abiding interest in depicting the human form in paint, as I find its versatility in a design, its invitation to empathy, and its difficulty, to be something worth attempting to depict with success. In addition, my curiosity regarding the new ways to depict the form using electronic technology seem to challenge to the traditional methods I rely upon, and I wanted to comment on the similarities and differences between the studios of the painters and the technicians. In this way, I aim to continue my investigation into what I see as the contrasting quality of human nature, and symbolically represent opposites such as mind and body, analog and digital, realism and idealism, terrestrial and the transcendent. Andrew S. Conklin is a figurative painter. He holds an MFA from the Academy of Art University, and studied painting at the National Academy of Design in New York City with Harvey Dinnerstein...

The fragility of the environment has always played an important role in Christina Haglid's work. As a child growing up on the East Coast, the ever changing seaside landscapes intrig...

"Patterns and Pansy" by Carol Stewart is a small abstracted still life painting with vibrantly patterned fabrics. In front sits a small glass dome and a ...

"True North - Identity" is a worms-eye view of a brilliant blue sky with a maze of distinctive clouds. The surreal quality of the imagery makes the viewer question reality. Are the clouds actual clouds or made by some other means? Are those fluffy clouds behind the bare branches or mountains? The ellipsed edges confirm the scene as an inner vision rather than a window on the world. The painting itself is painted on a handmade wooden panel with beautifully finished edges so no frame is needed. Mark Bowers True North - Identity oil on panel 9h x 12w in 22.86h x 30.48w cm MJB014 TRUE NORTH PAINTINGS Unconscious systemic biases may guide our actions or direct us---similar to the human construct of “True North”, which holds to coordinate systems. The Earth’s “Magnetic North” moves over time according to polar shifts; flux and correction is enabled by polarity. In these paintings (Privilege, Orientation, Belief, Identity, Equity), I use compositional elements referencing nautical com- passes to suggest that society must navigate not within systems, but naturally through positive relationships and change. I hope that my art represents our present day - but also imparts a dreamful glimpse of hope and faith within. Explanation: A magnetic compass does not point toward the true North Pole of the Earth. Rather, it more closely points toward the North Magnetic Pole of the Earth. The North Magnetic Pole is currently located in northern Canada. It wanders in an elliptical path each day, and moves, on the average, more than forty meters northward each day. Evidence indicates that the North Magnetic Pole has wandered over much of the Earth's surface in the 4.5 billion years since the Earth formed. Mark Bowers- Artist Statement With the depiction of landscape playing such a central role in the history of North American art, it seemed to offer many of the critical possibilities I was looking for, and it felt more and more like something I have always known. Something I could easily apply, stage, and manipulate as a diary. My work consists of small-scale highly detailed landscape paintings. They are inspired by the comfort, trepidation, and beauty found in the mundane Chicago Suburbs. I combine nature, decorative house wares...

I am interested in the abstract elements of the art work as much as the subject matter. My still life paintings are not still. I feel that my paintings are lasting over time and invite repeated exploration. –Carol Stewart...

A sunset of explosive proportions is the subject of this surreal landscape entitled "True North - Equity". The brilliant light at the end of the end of the road illuminates the high...

"Cactus", by Christina Haglid, is a painstakingly detailed watercolor of a Saguaro Cactus on panel. Each needle from the cactus is evident in this small scale painting. The background gives the idea that is a scene from a solarium with its blurred window panes. The piece is floated within a white wood frame and measures 4.75h x 3.75w inches. Christina Haglid Cactus watercolor and gouache on panel 4h x 3w in 10.16h x 7.62w cm Tiny Sanctuaries There has always been an intersection between the process of writing and the act of painting in my work. It has somehow been my guide. In the last four years, during the making of this work, that connection intensified as I started writing short stories and flash fiction while taking online classes. I find the process of writing and painting so different in almost every way, but there is something freeing and generative in writing which helps my painting process. Or perhaps it's a reminder of what painting is for me - something intuitive that needs to be trusted. And what they do have in common is a desire to encapsulate and distill a single moment, a story, about the complexity of our emotions and experiences. At the heart of my work is the recurring depiction of perseverance, strength of will, and a subtle optimism. Symbolically through the objects, precarious situations depict a moment of possible difficulty, often involving the influence of nature. A paper crane left in the snow. A boat nearly filled to the brim, but not submerged and able to drain its own contents carefully. A slide alone at night...

Chicago-based fine art painter Bruno A. Surdo is classically trained in drawing and oil painting in the tradition of Renaissance masters. With strong command of the human form, Surdo...

This painting is both strange and intimate. It depicts a small wooden boat floating on the water and two "passengers" in the form of a leafless tree and shrub. The placid water and ...

Chicago-based fine art painter Bruno A. Surdo is classically trained in drawing and oil painting in the tradition of Renaissance masters. With strong command of the human form, Surdo...

Chicago-based fine art painter Bruno A. Surdo is classically trained in drawing and oil painting in the tradition of Renaissance masters. With strong command of the human form, Surdo...

Chicago-based fine art painter Bruno A. Surdo is classically trained in drawing and oil painting in the tradition of Renaissance masters. With strong command of the human form, Surdo creates dynamic compositions of people and places that communicate a rich commentary on the world around him. Depicting trees from personal encounters, Surdo’s latest body of work entitled “Tree Spirits” takes us on a foray into the forest, where leaves, branches and burls express something deeply personal. Applying his mastery of figurative realism to the natural world, he experiments with form and texture to uncover the intangible spirits of trees. This charcoal drawing entitled “Fusion” beautifully illustrates the collision of two young birch trees. Loosely drawn with short, lateral strokes, the drawing depicts the slow process of two trees fusing together as a graceful gesture of physical touch. The horizontal motion of the sketch-like linework captures the striated texture of birch bark, punctuated by the irregular forms of its eye-shaped markings. The light-colored trees are contrasted by a dark backdrop, a void of negative that isolates the trees in space and time. Restricting the composition to only a portion of the tree trunks, Surdo accentuates their abstract forms and focuses on the simple beauty of their graceful movements. Guided by his memory, Surdo recalls the trees as soft, gentle and calm, leaning in on each other in a tender embrace. His freeform, expressive style reveals the subjectivity of this memory and finishes the composition with a transient, dream-like atmosphere. Charcoal on paper...

Carol Stewart Coneflower, Rudbeckia oil on paper on panel 11h x 18w in 27.94h x 45.72w cm CST008 Through her ethereal and often dreamlike paintings Caro...