Featured Artist Gail Kolflat

Artist Gail Kolflat’s colorful paintings capture moments, portray transitions and tell bold stories. Enjoy her portfolio and visit her website to see more.

 

 

My paintings are of humanity. They reflect people engaged in a variety of activities or at assorted events. The inspiration for my subject matter is my interest in the human experience, and the intrigue of people immersed in enterprise, pursuit or leisurely moments.

 

 

Described as “Americana” by some, and “contemporary genre” by others, all my paintings have abstractions mingling with a loose but identifiably peopled realism. Crafted with bold colors, upon close inspection one might notice varying textures, nuances in application of pigment, the manifestation of linear elements and idiosyncratic aspects of composition. Some pieces have irregular perimeters.

 

 

Creating the artworks, I start off by using acrylic paints. Eventually, towards the end of the process, certain techniques or color combinations might be implemented with oil pigments. The larger pieces are either produced on oversized canvases, or multi-panel assemblages.

 

 

My body of work falls into three themes—Snapshots, Transitions and Impact: Big and small.The Snapshots themed paintings are compositions suggestive of a photograph, with a scene depicting people brought together at a location, the moment captured as happens when taking a photograph.

 

 

The Transitions theme tells a story of people and their interactions. They are often portrayed in a certain place and time, juxtaposed with a contrasting scene of how things have transpired or evolved into at a later time—a transition.

 

 

Lastly, the Impact theme presents issues of voiced concern. They deal with looming situations, large and small, such as natural disasters, environmental worries, women’s rights or global terrorism.

 

 

The objective of my work is not to simulate a realistic scene. There is plenty of room for experimentation and to pull away from rigidly accurate perspective or photographic depictions of people. My aim is to encapsulate a story, an occasion, or a circumstance, distinctly portraying it in the style and type I have developed over the years.

 

 

When devising a composition, I start with a scene or an event in my mind, and have a basic preference for the eventual color scheme at completion. I lay the piece flat on the floor and wash the canvas abstractly with hues sympathetic to forming a dynamic dialogue with the colors I envision the piece to have on completion. I use up to four pigments in this wash.

 

 

Once dry, I overlay the painting with an improvised sketch of the scene or event. This is done freehand, referencing preliminary drawings and photographs as needed while I work. I complete the painting by adjusting shapes, textures and colors, as I am inspired, free of any plan.

 

 

To stimulate my imagination, I like to visit art galleries and exhibitions. Ambling about from afar, I find myself exploring, surmising, and ultimately forming what might be described as an “appreciation of immediate ambiance”. This is usually done from a distance of fifteen to twenty feet. The visual impressions garnered from these visits influence my creative process. Once I’ve returned to the studio, ideas resurface, and impact my practice when crafting new, fresh paintings. I endeavor to produce works that are bold, colorful and dramatic at a glance with strong compositions meant to hold the viewer’s interest.

 

Artist Gail Kolflat invites you to follow her on Facebook.

 

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