Go to my New Website www.wallitschart.com

“My paintings, which vacillate between abstraction and representation, always begin from nature. Growing up in Wyoming, I was always in awe of the natural environment. Now, as a resident in the densely populated American Northeast, I still find myself inspired by the landscape, from the natural wonder of stars, mountains, and flowers to the built environment. I also represent scenes and landscapes well beyond my immediate surroundings, such as volcanic eruptions or compositions created in response to the war in the Ukraine. 

In my practice, I am constantly exploring new techniques. I allow myself to follow my own intuition and be led by my emotional response to a scene. The vibrant colors I work with are also derived from nature, from the hyperbolic hues of flowers to the intense coloration of minerals. Each chroma has its own resonance and through their juxtapositions, I can develop a complex emotional landscape. I work exclusively with oil paints, but am continuously evolving my approach to incorporate new ideas like splattering, pouring, and layering. Different textures emerge from these experiments and once I find a methodology I like, I refine it into a series of paintings.

Through the combination of nature and emotion, my constantly evolving practice captures the multifaceted quality of our world.”

Shirley Wallitsch