KALEIDOSCOPIC EXHIBIT, Intimate Views of Foliage: Romancing the Curves--Seven Feathers Convention Center, 10/15/11

"Kaleidoscope" 30x24 acrylic ©Sandi Whetzel

A seductive flirtation with captivating, curvaceous shapes and vibrant color sparks my passion for creating contemporary acrylic paintings. I embrace the nuances in forms, color and patterns drawn from the plant world.

My fascination with engaging designs in nature entices me to play with the subjects in preliminary thumbnail sketches to enhance their formation. Part of the seduction is discovering how to integrate the figures and emphasize their tantalizing contours. The decision of where to crop the images makes them intimate with the edges of the canvas. The resulting spaces surrounding the objects become intriguing configurations in the design. I toy with the elements until I've coaxed them into a pleasing arrangement of energy and rhythm that accentuates their distinctive qualities.

My excitement builds as I brush the concept on canvas, anticipating how exquisitely the objects can be embellished with luscious color, sculptural brush strokes and tangible textures. My hand and the pigment-loaded brush become graceful dancing partners, tracing the silhouettes to reveal their structure on canvas.

I savor the freedom and the challenge of going beyond merely reproducing images; to paint them as I choose to visualize them. I hope to achieve an animated, sensuous or playful quality with the graceful motifs that are a recurrent theme in my art. When things are going well, the brush strokes express flourish and a sculpted, carved quality, softness or energy; whatever is needed to convey the character and emotional energy of the structures. Viewers are escorted through the paintings; impregnated with the emotions the configurations and colors convey. I consider my work to be most successful when people express how my paintings make them feel.

I hope the celebration and interplay of forms, patterns and colors in my art provides joy, inspiration and sanctuary to individuals during stressful times of their lives. I create because it gives me pleasure to discover and embellish beauty in nature. I delight in having some degree of control in this one aspect of my life where I can see and render subjects as I choose to visualize them.

You can see Sandi Whetzel's upcoming exhibit, KALEIDOSCOPE, thirteen intimate views of foliage, during the South Douglas County Festival of Arts, Saturday, October 15, 2011. This one day festival will be at Seven Feathers Casino Resort Convention Center in Canyonville, OR. Admission is free and the hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The festival features Douglas County's finest painters, jewelry designers, potters, artisans and live music.

Sandi is very excited about showing this body of work because she rarely gets to share her flora genre. Whetzel is also known for her popular wine images that have promoted the wine industry in Oregon. The popularity of her wine series preoccupies available booth space at most of her exhibition opportunities. In addition to the floras, Sandi will also display reproductions of her popular wine series and her classy wine inspired apparel for men and women.

Currently Whetzel's wine series is hanging at Liquid Assets Wine Bar, 96 North Main, in Ashland, Oregon through November 11th. First Friday Art Walks at that venue are from 5-7 pm, October 4 and November 7th. To see more of Sandi's art, click here.

Artist Statement--My art embraces the nuances in forms, color and patterns in nature--and more recently--the wine industry.

A seductive flirtation with captivating shapes and vibrant color sparks my passion for designing contemporary acrylic paintings. My art embraces the nuances in forms, color and patterns drawn from nature--and more recently--the wine industry.

My fascination with engaging designs entices me to play with the shapes in preliminary thumbnail sketches to improve their design. Part of the seduction is discovering how to arrange the forms and emphasize their intriguing shapes. My pencil caresses and traces their curvaceous contours, exaggerating some curves and adding others.  The decision of where to crop the images makes them intimate to the viewer.  Cropping also creates interesting spaces between the forms. I play with the design elements until I’ve arranged them into a pleasing pattern of energy and rhythm that showcases their distinctive characteristics.

As I brush the design on canvas, I anticipate how exquisitely I can embellish the shapes with luscious color, sculptural brush strokes and unique textures. My hand and the pigment-loaded brush become graceful dancing partners, gliding over the contours of the forms to reveal their anatomy on canvas.

I savor the freedom and the challenge of going beyond merely reproducing images--I paint them as I choose to visualize them. I enjoy having some degree of control in this aspect of my life. When things are going well, the brush strokes express confidence, a sculptural, carved quality, softness or energy; whatever is needed to convey the character and emotional energy of the forms.  I hope to achieve an animated, sensual, or whimsical quality in the recurrent graceful motifs of my art.

The arrangement of compelling shapes, vibrant chromas, directional brush strokes and tactile textures pulls viewers through the paintings, engaging them with the emotions the shapes and colors convey. I consider my work to be most successful when people express how my paintings make them feel.

Because of the experimental nature of my work, I love the versatility, quick changeability and texture mediums of acrylics.  I like to extend the paintings around the gallery-wrapped edges of the canvases.  It adds to the third dimensional quality of the art--the paintings stand on their own, without a frame to “finish” or detract from them.

Creating paintings within the confines of an imposed theme, as with my wine series and other promotions, has been a productive stimulus to conceive works illustrating those themes--without that stimulus, I might not have created some of my most successful works. Inventing paintings from my imagination is somewhat like birthing a child. The creation is a part of me. It is mine--but distinct from myself. However, it will always be a reflection of me.

I hope the celebration and interplay of shapes, patterns and colors in my art provides joy, inspiration and sanctuary to individuals in their homes and work environments during stressful times of their lives.