When I started trying to promote my own artwork online I kept coming across other people's art that amazed or compelled me in one way or another. This blog has been a way for me to practice thinking and writing about art, as well as learning more about my peers and all the incredible art that is being made out there.

Search for an Artist on this blog (or cut and paste from the list at the bottom of this page)

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Kurt Solmssen

Flat Bottom Skiff
"Flat Bottom Skiff"  Kurt Solmssen, oil on linen, 50 x 60 inches, 2005
"Sunshine beach House", oil on canvas, 46" x 62", 2010
"Las Nina", oil on canvas, 50" x70", 2008

Snow on 7th St.
"Snow on 7th St.", oil on linen, 26 x36 inches, copyright ©2011

"Yellow Boat Evening", oil on canvas, 50 x 50", 2009

Like the artist in my previous post (William Elston), Kurt Solmssen is a member of the Northwest Figurative Artists' Alliance, a group of like minded painters who insist on the relevance of figurative and realist image making in the face of the contemporary art scene's dismissive ambivalence. While much of my posts are focused on more narrative imagery, with occasional forays into the conceptual and abstract, I will always harbor a soft spot for those who are able to master the elegant craftsmanship of simply depicting the world around them. Kurt Solmssen's work in particular can be described as both elegant and simple. The simplicity is deceptive. The ability to capture light, composition and mood so breathtakingly with such seemingly rapid gestural brushwork is not a mere matter of quick sketching but the obvious evidence of long years of practice.

You can see more of his work through the link above, or at his website: www.kurtsolmssen.com

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