by Christopher A. Yates for the Columbus Dispatch
Still-life paintings mix realism with bold harmonies of bright colors
Carol Stewart’s still-life paintings are studies of light, pattern and color.
With decorative extravagance and a sense of play, each piece features numerous cups, vases, fruits and flowers arranged upon brightly colored draperies.
Stewart, born in Canada, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1981 from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario; and her master’s in 2010 from Fontbonne University near St. Louis, where she lived and worked for many years. She recently moved to central Ohio.
Her paintings are over-the-top explorations that mix gesture and realism. Traversing her compositions from cup to cloth to vase, one discovers repeated shapes and surprising color harmonies in objects that are otherwise benign.
Some works are inspired by travel. Patterns From India has a celebratory air in terms of its palette and intensity. By focusing on the transparency of glass, Stewart plays hide-and-seek with viewers. Space seems tenuous as one examines background objects through ones in the foreground.
The polka dots on the drapery in Polka Dot Painting are seen through transparent objects and look like confetti.
Directional light helps order the chaos in Pink Painting.
Stewart is at her best when the energy of her mark envelops her still-life objects in an atmospheric haze. In Two Ranunculus, a green drapery swallows up forms, creating a dreamlike space open to interpretation.
Whether poetic explorations or simple records of daily life, the still life has a long, rich history.
Stewart’s paintings, pleasant and comfortable, are essentially records of experience.