ARTIST STATEMENT
“I paint because I bleed Alizarin Crimson.
As a small child – third grade, to be exact – I painted a watercolor sun into a sky and CREATED A COLOR! I was amazed at how simply I could generate a new color that wasn’t there before. I remain awe-struck, still, at this always-new discovery of color creation and juxtaposition. Because I am a colorist I have a great need to present to the world what color can do.
The Pandemic of 2020 afforded me the luxury of time to experiment, hence my use of Thai paper collaged on canvas layered within acrylics. These works are small for me. Usually my larger paintings are full of movement and dance. And done a bit more frenetically. Working in “”undersized mode”” became a lesson in slow savoring. The movement is slower and I savored each stroke. It was more peaceful. Even more about discovery. I see as we move forward into rejoining social living my work again is becoming more hurried.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Sheila is a seasoned, classically trained, international award-winning artist who has worked and exhibited across the U.S. for over 25 years in corporate, educational, commercial, and healthcare venues as well as museums and online. She is a Lifetime Achievement Award Winner in Whos Who of American Art. Her work is in numerous private and public collections.
Grabarsky’s paintings have appeared in multiple media venues including Williams Sonoma catalog (Fall, 2019), American Pastoral movie, J&J/Rutgers video background, CD cover, cable TV. She has written artist testimonials has been included in various artist books including New Jersey Masters: A New Legacy of Visual Art, Tova Navarra. Classically trained at Syracuse University, Sheila’s work evolved from dark and foreboding expressionistic portraits into gestural, intuitive, joyful abstractions.
“I do not have a preconceived notion as I approach my easel. I work in highly colored impastoed layers. Lately I’ve been adhering dried skins of acrylic residue off my palette, as I find them incredibly beautiful and inspiring. Watching as forms literally present themselves as foreground is an amazing experience, always requiring hours of concentrated studio time. I am fascinated by the discovery and the mystery of harnessing chaos into a cohesive composition.
“”Color creation is very exciting. As a small child I painted a yellow watercolor sun into a blue sky and was thrilled to have accidentally created green, which hadn’t been there before! I remain awestruck, still, at color creation.
© Sheila Grabarsky