Trailside Galleries is pleased to present “Evolution: Linda St. Clair” a month long showcase of new works by Linda St. Clair.  This newest collection by the Santa Fe based artist will consist of approximately 10 -12 new original paintings.
 

Within the great tradition of painting, Linda St. Clair has set herself apart as an innovator who creates animal portraits that explore the personalities of creatures great and small. Whether her subjects are of the barnyard, domestic or wild variety, they are undeniably the product of an artist inspired by wildlife’s vital energy and its broad emotional range. St. Clair’s body of work is infused with a strong narrative sense, a clear articulation of mood and spirit, and an intricate knowledge of animal anatomy.
 

During this particular showcase, Linda debuts a new approach and process to painting her beloved animal subjects. An artist retreat in Sedona, Arizona last year was instrumental in this evolution.  It was an experiential retreat where she painted to music, or painted with her non-dominant hand and looked at images from different perspectives. Linda notes, “It was so effective in helping break me out of tunnel vision, looking at the animals differently.  From that experience, this new way of working evolved.”
 

Linda’s newest canvases are painted using oil, sometimes acrylic ink as well as sumi ink which has been used in calligraphy and paintings in Asia for centuries.  Starting with a blank canvas or board lying flat on a table, she masks off certain areas, sometimes with tape, paper towels, masking fluid, things that will give her a different effect.

After masking, she completely wets the surface, sometimes with the water almost standing on the surface.  She then pours the ink on the surface, tilts it, lets the ink run, wiping out areas, etc.  Chance is part of the creative process.  She then completely lets it dry and removes the masking to see what is left.  At this point, she might add another color or not. Several days are spent looking at the surface and deciding what animal will fit with this background.  Her biggest challenge is deciding on the animal and then the design of the piece.  After that is done, she then paints parts of the animal in oil on top of this background, often times letting the ink become part of the animal.  At times she uses transparent oil to let the ink show through and often loses part of the edges of the image that fade into the white background.

St. Clair’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions in the United States as well as Japan, China, Turkey and the Royal Guard in Paris, France. Selected Press and feature articles appear   in a variety of national art magazines including Wildlife Art Journal, Southwest Art, Western Art Collector and American Art Collector.
 

Since 1963, Trailside Galleries of Jackson, Wyoming and Scottsdale, Arizona has been regarded as one of the pre-eminent dealers in American representational art, specializing in a rich and varied collection of works by the leading western, wildlife, figurative, impressionist, and landscape artists in the country. The artist roster includes members of the Cowboy Artists of America, National Academy of Design, Oil Painters of America, Plein-Air Painters of America, Prix De West, Society of Animal Artists, National Sculpture Society and Masters of the American West.
 

Please contact Kimberly C. Fletcher, Marketing & Communications Director at 307.200.1622 or via email media@trailsidegalleries.com for further information and images.