Illinois - Still-life Drawings and Watercolors

My work is about something I wish I could have seen, imaginary worlds, a commentary on awe that is inspired by nature, science, and history. Objects in my work are a stand in for the...

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 “Memory of Leaves” beautifully illustrates the branching form of a mature birch tree. Loosely drawn with informal, sketch-like linework, the tree is shown in the middle of winter, bare of leaves and white with frost. Surdo’s skillful placement of shadow illustrates the forking branches with incredible texture and effortless realism. The intricate play of light and dark is accentuated by the stark white background, a negative space that isolates the tree in space and time. Restricting the composition to only a portion of the tree trunk, Surdo accentuates the tree’s abstract form, lingering on areas of unusual shape or texture. Seeking to convey the strong emotional response elicited by his initial encounter with the tree, Surdo focuses on the tree’s sculptural form, contrasting the strong trunk...

Artist Commentary: The original work is a watercolor still life painting. Keywords: tomatoes, vegetables, seasonal, still life, representational, produce, green, yellow, red, farm, ...

Artist Commentary: This is an original watercolor on paper, a floral still life painting. Keywords: flowers, floral, still life, roses, yellow, red, pink, Artist Biography: Born a...

Artist Commentary: This is a watercolor on paper. Floral still life painting. Keywords: flowers, floral, floral still life, tulips, red, floral arrangement, blue, green, yellow, pi...

mixed media on paper image size: 17 X 25 framed size: 28 X 34 Provenance- Originally purchased from the Candy Store. It is from the Cherie and Ron Petersen collection and exhibited in 1989 in an exhibition "Collectors Choice, Drawings Paintings and Prints from the collection of Cherie and Ron Petersen". Bio- Born in Benicia, California in 1930, Robert Arneson was encouraged by his father to draw. He became a proficient draftsman early in life and drew cartoons for a local newspaper as a teenager. After Arneson studied art education at the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland he taught in a local high school, where he became interested in ceramics. He went on to receive an MFA from Mills College in 1958. Arneson became head of the ceramics department at the University of California at Davis in 1962 and became a full professor of art in 1973. Arneson was greatly influenced by the expressionist work of fellow Californian Peter Voulkos, who had studied Pablo Picasso’s works...

Artist Commentary: This is a floral still life painting on watercolor on paper. Keywords: floral, flowers, floral still life, still life, representational, vibrant colors, irises, l...

Artist Commentary: This is a watercolor floral still life painting. Keywords: Abstract, Bold, Pop & Graphic, Expressive & Gestural, symmetric, blue, yellow, orange Artist Biography...

Artist Commentary: This is a floral still life watercolor painting on paper. Keywords: flowers, floral, floral still life, still life, f...

Artist Commentary: This is an original acrylic on canvas floral still life painting. Keywords: flowers, still life, roses, red, white, home, serene, home Artist Biography: Born an...

"One Potato", by Christina Haglid, is a meticulously detailed watercolor of a potato. The paper had a deckled edge and matted with a heavy white mat. The piece is framed in a white wood frame with a heavy white mat measuring 14h x 10.5w inches. Christina Haglid One Potato watercolor and gouache on paper 4.50h x 2.50w in 11.43h x 6.35w cm Artist's Statement 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 which will return to its purpose during the day. My intention is to not show the failure because I imagine all these objects make it through to better times. Allegories of survival. Someone comes by and finds the paper crane, the rowboat owners return and see their boat undisturbed, and the slide during the day brings joy. EDUCATION 1993 M.F.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art 1991 B.F.A., Maryland Institute, College of Art 1990 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture EXHIBITIONS 2019 "Tiny Sanctuaries", Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 "Gallery Group" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 "Gallery Group" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2013 "Gallery Group" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2012 "Gallery Group" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2011 “Gallery Group” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL "Meticulous Details: Conservators' Paintings" The Architrouve, Chicago, IL 2010 “Art Chicago” Merchandise Mart, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2009 “Botanica” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2006 “Botanicus” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2006 “Arts Botanica” Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, IL 2005 “Blumen: Group Show” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004-05 “Think Small” Illinois State Museum, IL [traveled] “Christina Haglid: Microworlds” Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC [solo exhibition] 2004 “Art Chicago” Navy Pier, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003 “Small to Mighty” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2002 “Art of the 20th Century” NY Armory, Ann Nathan Gallery, NY, NY “Art Chicago” Navy Pier, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 “Group Fusion” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2000 "Small & Mighty II" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL "Christina Haglid, New Work and Amy Lowry-Poole, Bugs and Buds" Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 “Small & Mighty” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL “Views II” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 “Maleri” Galleri Carl Michael Bellman, Stockholm, Sweden “1987 – 1997, A Skowhegan Decade, Alumni Exhibition and Benefit Auction” David Beitzel Gallery, NY, NY “On and Off the Wall, Gallery Group” Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1997 “15 x 15” (Alumni Exhibition), Thesis Gallery, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD 1996 “Small Works” Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, IL., Special Recognition Award 1994 “Unknown Chicago” Gallery 312, Chicago, IL “15 x 15” (Alumni Exhibition), Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD 1993 “Graduate Summer Exhibition” Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI “Graduate Thesis Exhibition” Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI “Michigan Fine Arts Competition” Birmingham Bloomfield Art Association, Birmingham, MI 1992 “Word of Mouth” Forum Gallery, Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI 1991 “Drawing: A Covert and Private Affair” West Gallery, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ “Senior Exhibition” Meyerhoff Gallery, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD 1990 “Fiber Exhibition” Fox Gallery...

"North Sea", by Christina Haglid, is a meticulously detailed watercolor. The single bloom suspended above the vase has translucent water droplets covering its soft peach colored pet...

Sylvia Beckman, b. 1938, Detroit, MI Education University of Michigan, School of Arch. & Design University of Wisconsin, Botany Private apprenticeship in stone sculpture, bronze, ...

Artist Commentary: This piece is a watercolor floral still life painting. Keywords: flowers, floral, still life, vase, bouquet Artist Biography: Born and raised in a small town in...