Inward Morning - Kara Ruth Snyder News

"Portals"-Painting as Meditation

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:34:55 CDT

Painting as a Path to Higher Consciousness

I'd like to describe how painting serves as a living, breathing meditation for me. Painting allows one to access truth through slowing the mind down and enabling one to perceive reality through the immediacy of the materials and tools one works with.

Pictured below is the first painting in a series entitled Portals through which I am exploring the world of painting as a gateway to higher consciousness. It is heralded by the first painting in the series entitled "Portals 1" (acrylic and pastel on canvas, 36 x 36", April 2011) and is pictured below:

Painting Allows Access to Truth

I love how in painting you get what you get! There might be layers of intended meaning projected from the artist, but the bottom line is that the materials always speak for themselves. Red is red. Blue is blue. Canvas is canvas. I think that is why the act of painting always humbles me. Each time I paint I am faced with the truth!

Recognizing Oneness in the Act of Painting

For me, there exists a seamless unity from heart to hand, from paintbrush to water cup, from paint to canvas. This unfolding or this ritual act of painting is a metaphor for the larger human experience. We are here --and we work with what materials the earth has provided. In essence, we are of the same "stuff" that our very paintings are!

Because I experience this "oneness" when I paint, I am increasingly able to carry the fruits of this experience into my daily life. I tend to be more appreciative of the subtleties around me. This, in turn, enriches my art. To take it one step further, it is my hope that others will ultimately find a similar experience when they view my art, i.e., an appreciation of the beauty inherent in the materials themselves, and a calming and unifying effect from seeing the colors and markings, the illusion of light and space, the textures and forms, etc.

The Movement of the Brush is Like Breathing

Just as breathing facilitates meditation, so does painting help us reach higher planes of consciousness. The "filling up" of the brush with water and paint is like breathing in and the movement of the brush (or other application tool) upon the canvas -is the "letting go" of the paint and water...it is like breathing out. As the breath is released something is expressed! The culminating result of this back-and-forth, this give-and-take, this ebb-and-flow of painting is, of course, the painting itself. The painting then becomes a "portal" or vehicle for further meditation and contemplation.

Kara Ruth Snyder, "Revelation", acrylic on canvas, 2011.

Thanks for visiting. I welcome any comments or feedback!

Kara Snyder ExhibitsTwo Abstract Paintings in "Halo" at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts

Sat, 02 Apr 2011 21:13:14 CDT

Halo: An Exhibit of Things Solar and Sacred, a show at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, opens on Friday, April 8. I will have two abstract paintings in the juried show sponsored by the Pittsburgh Society of Artists. The two paintings are pictured below:

"Chicken"

acrylic on canvas

40 x 40"

"Agni", acrylic and pumice on canvas

, 24 x 24"

For more discussion on the individual works, feel free to link to my blog post called

Kara Ruth Snyder Talks About Two New Abstract Paintings.

I welcome any comments or feedback.

Kara Ruth Snyder Talks about Two New Abstract Paintings

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 16:10:08 CST

"Chicken" - A New Abstract Painting

I had so much fun creating this painting! First of all, I love working with this larger size (this one is 40 x 40"). Because of my vision impairment I have absolutely no peripheral vision, thus when faced with a canvas of that size I literally see only white. I then begin flinging paint!

How I start usually is by covering the canvas with a wash of some kind. This time I used a raw sienna and water as a uneven wash over the entire surface including edges. I then went in with various blocks of cool and warm colors (which looked beautiful against the raw sienna backfroundm by the way). I played around with the colored-block-thing for quite awhile before I reached a happy balance in my mind. I went back and forth with adding some darker colors such as ultramarine blue and carbon black and had fun with "drawing" some goofy shapes that randomly came ro mind, such as that blob-looking thing near the bottom and that other shape which to me looks like a headless chicken!

I submitted this painting yesterday for a juried show coming up on April 8th. It is called Halo and is sponsored by the Pittsburgh Society of Artists. The exhibit will take place at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.

"Agni" - an abstract painting inspired by the Vedic god of fire!

This piece was also extremely fun to create. I treated the canvas in a loose and free style...it is an action painting if you will. I alternated lights and darks, warm and cool colors, and soft and hard shapes. I used bright florescent orange and titanium white to add boldness and energy to the composition.

In doing this painting, as in all of my abstract work, I strive to tap into my internal sense of "what is" and then express -in paint- my experiences. After completing this painting I could only think of energy or fire, so I thought the title of "Agni" was quite fitting...seeing that he was the Vedic god of fire!

"Agni" was also submitted to Halo, the same show as described above.

Please feel free to comment if you wish!

-Kara

Kara Ruth Snyder Exhibits Two New Abstract Paintings

Sat, 05 Feb 2011 21:04:41 CST

"Black and White"
Exhibition at the Fein Art Gallery in Pittsburgh

"Nocturne" - A black and white acrylic abstract painting

I have two abstract acrylic paintings in this new and thought-provoking exhibition at The Fein Art Gallery located on Pittsburgh's North Side at 519 East Ohio Street. The show features the work of many artists and includes a variety of art forms.

The piece on the right is titled "Nocturne". It is black and white acrylic and pumice on a 24 x 36" canvas. I began this painting with water and pumice gel. I allowed this to dry for a bit and then I went in with no thought in mind except to have a full blown immersion into the process of "playing" with the medium. I applied paint thickly with brushes, palette knives, fingers and thumbs. There seemed to be an endless cycle of adding paint, first white, then black, and then merging to grey and then removing paint and then starting all over again. Eventually, after being somewhat lulled into a trance, I went in with a smaller brush and added accents and bold markings.

This piece is for sale. If interested in purchasing this painting, or to see more work, please contact The Fein Art Gallery or visit their website at www.feinartgallery.com.

"Mother and Son" - another black and white acrylic abstract painting

This painting was created in much the same way as the other one. Thick application and removal and re-application of paint was carried out in a cyclical manner. The childlike markings were wrought with a bold application of paint and show an expressionistic style. I did this painting over the course of many hours. It is inspired by my son E.

This piece is also for sale. If interested in purchasing this painting, or to see more work, please contact The Fein Art Gallery or visit their website at www.feinartgallery.com.

Thanks for reading my blog! I welcome any comments.

-Kara Ruth Snyder

How to Create the Illusion of Space in a Painting

Mon, 31 Jan 2011 13:51:29 CST

There are many ways in which to create the illusion of space within the confines of a canvas. I will discuss how space can be affected by implementing the following three techniques:

Layering of paint
Varying the size and type of brushes and tools
Checking the placement of compositional elements
Color and Texture choices

Create Space with Layering

One way to create depth in a painting is through the layering of paint. A sense of richness can be achieved. With the use of various pigments there comes an overlapping which denotes depth and therefore space. Also, subtle hues and tonalities are unearthed through the dual process of the layering on -and the removal of- paint. This technique can produce some amazingly beautiful results.

More Tools and Brushes, More Depth

Using various brushes and tools of varying sizes and textures can impact the sense of space within a painting. When you mix up the tools there are some thick marks and some thin marks, some dark marks and some light marks. some hard-edged marks and some diffused-edged marks. In essence, what is rendered is an environment with some"objects" appearing closer to the viewer and others farther away.

Placement of Compositional Elements

The placement of compositional elements in a painting have a profound impact on the illusion of space. This is true for both representational and nonrepresentational art. For instance, if an object or shape is placed in the dead center of a canvas as opposed to the upper left-hand corner, the "feel" of the painting will be different. The full discussion of the impact and meaning of composition is too lengthy to fit in this blog, but suffice it to say that where you place objects of interest in your painting, whether top, bottom, center. left, right, or off-the-edge, all will interact with your viewer's sense of space, or lack thereof.

Use of Color and Texture

Color and texture are two factors which form impressions of one's spatial sense. Color choices can imply light or shadow and therefore can imply the traveling of light through a atmosphere. Choosing a highly textured surface over a smooth one might suggest something about distance, For example, typically in landscape painting if an object is closer to you it will appear more detailed and textured as opposed to objects at a distance which will appear smoother or hazert. The same human visual interpretation will occur with an abstract painting as well, i.e., textured feels closer and softer or smoother feels farther away.

Conclusion

In conclusion, there are many factors which affect our perception of space in a painting. The choices in the tools and application techniques used, the placement of objects or marks, and the use of color and texture all have an immediate on the illusion of space.