Featured Artist Steve Griggs

Filled with light and movement, artist Steve Griggs’ watercolors convey a sense of time, place and memories. Enjoy the following selection from his portfolio and visit his website for more.

 

 

I have one goal when I paint—to create an image that speaks to the viewer and moves them, in some capacity, to a deeper sense of appreciation for beauty in the world.

 

 

Although my formal education was in studio art and design where I learned traditional techniques and principles, I have chosen to focus on a style that is suggestive of reality but leaves the viewer with an emotional response.

 

 

When I hear someone say one of my paintings “speaks to them” I know I have achieved my goal.

 

 

Whether I’m painting a landscape or cityscape, I don’t capture a moment in time but, rather, the feeling of the scene.

 

 

We don’t live in a static world. Visual elements are constantly changing. I want my paintings to show movement, progress, and an ever-evolving scene. In the city, people are moving, light and shadows are shifting, there is rhythm and motion. We’ve all been there. We’ve all experienced it. When someone views my cityscape paintings, I want them to connect with what they felt in any given city.

 

 

I’ve had people say they know the exact location depicted in my painting. Maybe that is the place I intended. Maybe it isn’t. What is important is that they connect with the feeling and emotion and it becomes the place they want it to be.

 

 

When I paint, I start with a blank paper and immediately apply color. I don’t draw on the paper first. That is not to say I don’t plan my paintings in advance. I do. I might work up a painting in my sketchbooks over several days, planning the placement, light, color, perspective and special elements. I often do a couple of “trial” paintings before completing the final piece.

 

 

Nevertheless, approaching watercolor with such a loose and free style lends itself to a fair amount of risk. Watercolor can be a relatively unforgiving medium and it doesn’t take much for a painting to get muddy. It actually takes control and mastery to create a painting that appears free!

 

 

It is the freedom in my style that allows the viewer to eschew the literal and, instead, connect with the emotion that accompanies whatever story the painting is telling them.

 

 

There is quite a bit of vulnerability in my painting style, both for me as the artist as well as for the viewer. It is in this space of vulnerability that we connect, not as painter and viewer, but as humans filling our souls through images of beauty.

 

Artist Steve Griggs invites you to follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

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