Anne Smith Stephan

Abstract painting is letting your imagination roam free. It’s expressed through color, shape, texture, light, and space. I was initially drawn to drawing and painting the human figure and for years I took painting classes to have access to live models. I began to interpret the human form in a myriad of ways, eventually morphing into fruit, finally reaching abstraction, no longer constrained by reality. It also allows the viewer the freedom to interpret what they see from their own perspective. I use oil paints because of their intensely rich colors and slow drying time. Since I paint in layers, mainly with palette knives, it allows me to work on a painting for a long time. Often a painting will start out with many different colors and a more complicated composition then simplify as it progresses. There is so much freedom, which often makes it harder to know when it’s finished. Painting is a solitary endeavor. You have the freedom to paint from this world or to imagine another one. It’s hard to express what happens while painting. Edward Hopper said: “If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.”