The Botanical Still Life Paintin

The Botanical Still Life Paintings of Carol Stewart

Kayleigh Osness for Dreamtropolis

August 15, 2009

Original art undoubtedly beautifies a home or office by enriching one’s physical surroundings, cultivating conversations and building personal tastes. For these reasons, the number of art collectors in Canada is on the rise. The advantage of collecting fine art is the intrinsic value it holds combined with its market value. Art falls under the category of an alternative investment (along with wine, jewelry and classic cars) and savvy investors have been paying attention.

“The major advantage of collecting art is that you can enjoy the piece as its value increases,” says Ian Loch, director of Loch Gallery in Calgary, who represents Carol Stewart, a senior Canadian artist. “Carol is definitely an artist to watch for. Her work reflects a skillful and emotionally charged interpretation of the still life subject.”

Over the past 30 years, Carol Stewart has exhibited in galleries throughout North America in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, St. Louis, San Antonio and Chicago in 25 solo shows and 19 group shows. Her still life paintings are characterized by a sophisticated play of colour and light applied in a punchy, painterly style. Stewart views art collectors as cultural ambassadors, “Original artwork has a spirit that is lacking in reproductions. You can feel the hand of the artist in it.”

“Painting is infinitely satisfying for me,” says the artist from her botanically blessed studio in St. Louis, Missouri, where she currently resides. “I had wonderful art teachers in high school in Montreal and attended art school before doing my BFA at Queen’s University in Kingston,” the artist tells me as she notes her MFA at Fontbonne University is nearly complete. “I am learning better how to get to that special place between the conscious and unconscious working mind where the magic happens,” says Stewart who admires historical artists Bonnard, Vuillard, Matisse, and contemporary artists David Hockney, Tony Scherman, and Gerhard Richter.

Always painting from life, Stewart interprets flora, fruit, fabrics and glass objects as explosive fields of colour. Her pieces convey a network of patterning and mark making that create texture and energy. As one’s gaze is anchored on a piece, a unified composition emerges while specific elements emerge. Subsequently, depth is established, objects are weighted through their shadows and a subtle balance is expressed through reflections of light that dance across the surface.

“I take my inspiration from museums and gardens in the places I’ve lived such as England, Ontario and B.C. It is especially my own garden that I love. It has a heart and soul.”

Carol Stewart’s work is original in its methods. By breaking down the lines and injecting the forms with movement, she experiments between realism and abstraction. “I work to make movement a part of my still life painting. The layering of paint can resemble an airy feel of a watercolour but is combined with the depth and richness of oil paint.”

Carol Stewart's works can be found in private and corporate collection in Canada, the United States and the U.K. In 2008, she won the Honors Award at Art St. Louis. In Canada, she is represented by Loch Gallery at in Toronto, Calgary and Winnipeg at www.lochgallery.com.