Age-Old Scenes for a New-Age World
Author:
Stephen RotellaMentor:
Jack Reilly, Chair and Professor of Art, California State University Channel Islands“Get a life worth living, and then paint your autobiography.” An artist I deeply respect passed on those words to me, and so I paint those things that are part of my life and that keep my work honest -- small-town life and its values. As a whole, I have found that those familiar with that lifestyle are proud of their experience, while those who are not still very much admire the idea of less complicated living associated with a more rural way of life. For this reason, my work has the ability to appeal to a broad group of people. The old masters, who shaped classical painting, worked in oils. In order to carry on their tradition, I too use oils as my working medium. Stylistically, I enjoy the absoluteness that comes with representational art versus the relativity of abstraction. However, allowing some visible brushstrokes and colors characteristic of impressionism helps further distance painting from photography. Combining these methods is the means by which I can best create paintings that bring scenes of age-old living to a new-age world. Stephen Rotella 2012