Featured Artist Guenevere Schwien

Artist Guenevere Schwien’s twisted strands of lights create a narrative showing the path of positive and negative thoughts in our minds. Visit her website to see more of her art.

 

 

Beauty and exploration are my muses. I have a never-ending supply of curiosity, which pushes me to study a variety of subjects. As I mature into my painting career, I have a strong desire to make my work not just beautiful, but also rich in content and expression.

 

 

In my new series, I am looking toward the light. Growing up with both parents suffering from depression, and dutifully handing it down to me, I have made it the subject of my investigative eye.

 

 

Many books have spurred my intellectual understanding of this issue and helped me to find a reliable practice to keep it at bay. My series of lights paintings was born out of this learning process.

 

 

The paintings represent our mind, filled with twisting negative and positive thoughts, dark wires being the constraints put on us by negative thinking, and sparkling lights to guide us and give us hope. In the paintings, the tight focus is on the foreground lights, reminding us to focus on the good and challenge the bad.

 

 

As the series progresses, the lights will become stronger and narrative images will emerge from the tangle of wires and lights. This work illustrates my belief that we all have the power to change our thoughts. While at first our minds may seem like a jumbled mess of wiry thoughts, with regular practice we can steer our thoughts toward the positive lights, rather than being at the mercy of harmful negatives.

 

 

As I embarked on this series, I laid out a plan for the progression of imagery. In the beginning, it was a tangle of wires and lights. I chose Christmas lights because the wires are prominent. As the series progresses, the lights will grow and evolve. Figures will also start to emerge from the tangle to help us understand the series and how it relates visually to overcoming depression. I want this series to be a visual story, leading you through the progression.

 

 

I have been an oil painter since 2005, when I graduated from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco with a Bachelors of Fine Art in Studio Painting. I learned the traditional representational a la prima painting style. After college, I taught myself to take my work a few steps further into a tighter realistic style. I have received many honors for my work, including a residency at Jentel, as well as two top awards in national shows. I am also producing weekly YouTube videos sharing art instruction, my process and painting inspiration.

 

 

Since adopting the theme of light and dark, or positive and negative, I see this battle playing out over and over and find a stream of never-ending painting ideas. I am continually striving to conjure beautiful and moving compositions that express this human struggle. I only need to find the time to paint them all.

 

Artist Guenevere Schwien invites you to follow her on Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

 

Want to stay current on cutting edge business articles from Artsy Shark, plus artist features, and an invitation to the next Call for Artists? Subscribe to our twice-monthly Updates, and get a free e-book on Where to Sell Art Online right now!