2019-03-01_American_Art_Collector

(Martin Jones) #1

074 http://www.AmericanArtCollector.com


Karen Hull


Karen Hull is a full-time Australian artist who
pushes the boundaries of colored pencil drawing,
combining the medium with other materials and
surfaces. Her realist drawings vary in subject but
unite in tone of whimsy and humor. Her strongest
pieces explore portraiture, depicting older human
beings with dignity and beauty that is often
overlooked for fl ashier or more accepted models.
The artist focuses on the face by cropping her
references tightly to reveal compositions with
sophisticated textures of every wrinkle in the skin,
each curl in the hair and spots in the fabric.

Retrospection, colored pencil on black mat/mount board, 12 x 9"

Lesley Thiel


Lesley Thiel channels feelings of love, worry and
respect for the earth in her art. She feels the urgency
to call attention to climate change. Therefore,
children become symbols for the fragility of nature.
Thiel paints dead tree branches and dying rose
petals to grieve over the damage already done to
the planet. However, delicate feathers or blooming
plants give us hope we still have time to revert the
crisis. Thiel’s paintings often star her neighbor’s twin
girls, including Addie. This confi dent model is also
responsive to mimicking the introspective or even
sad mood Thiel asks for.

Hope, oil on panel, 36 x 22"

910


“ Initially, I was drawn to the apparent wise gaze of
the gentleman as though he was more a watchful
spectator and analyst of the world around him,
rather than an active participant. I’ve always loved
drawing older people because their faces are like worn
but beautiful landscapes where each hill, valley and
landmark has a tale to tell. From a technical point of
view, I enjoy rendering each line, wrinkle, sunspot
and pore but even more than that, I hope to draw on
and capture the essence of the subject. Our society
is dismissive of age as though a face with lines has
diminished beauty and importance but, through my
art, I hope to show the true beauty of age.”

“ Hope is part of an ongoing series featuring the young
model, Addie. Despite her apparent fragility, she has
the intelligence and resilience that will make her a
future leader. She represents the hope that young
women like her will lead us to cherish the earth and
each other. She holds a symbolic strawberry plant,
the fruit of Venus, goddess of love.”
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