Cindercone Arts, Inc.
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Artist's Statement
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Cindercone Arts, Inc.
Artist's Statement
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I consider myself primarily a
realistic still life painter. I also belong to a group of ardent technophobes
who would be happier if the Information Age were not upon us. When life is
spinning by at break-neck speed, it’s my nature to become over-stimulated and
unhappy. The still life format is the perfect antidote for control freaks like me. In a still life, the universe collapses onto the canvas, and the artist can regulate the pace and form of it. Still life objects don’t move around. Flowers wilt and fruit rots, but at least I’m not battling with sun, wind, cold or bugs. (If I want those, I can take a hike.) I might choose to accept nature at face value, change it if the painting requires it or invent something that fits into the composition. Just as improvisation is considered by many the highest form of musical expression, I believe it’s also true in art. Many of my images are pure imagination. My ritual is to meditate before I paint. It settles me down, allows me to focus, opens my senses and releases me from the cares of the day. Painting becomes an extension of the experience--- a kind of visual meditation. I don’t confine myself to one painting style. Sometimes I want a painting to reflect a classical tradition, while others lend themselves to an impressionistic approach. Working in several styles keeps my work fresh and constantly evolving. Every painting is geared toward loosening something up—color, form, texture, line---and pushing myself past my comfort limits, knowing that my scared self will always want to play it safe. There’s certainly no guarantee of success with this kind of experimentation going on, but it’s the way I’m most productive.
It’s particularly exciting to me that Realism has returned as the “new” art movement of the 2lst Century, but to me, paintings should not look like photographs. My slant on Realism is to strive for images that are simply convincing. The continuing challenge for me is to learn to say more with less. It’s amazing how much information the human eye will fill in. Leila Kirkley
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I apply paint with painting knives.
For me, brushes lead to the over-blending of color and a fussy look. I use an
impressionist’s palette of pure color only. I don’t use any tube browns or
blacks. Earth colors and tube blacks create mud—great for gardeners but anathema
for a floral painter. All of the colors I avoid can be mixed from pure,
transparent color and adjusted to be warmer or cooler. I use a very limited
palette.