Click on each painting for larger size... |
STJOHNGALLERY.COM|
ALEXANDER’S CAFÉ AND WWW.STJOHNGALLERY.COM
PRESENT “As an artist that paints from life (rather than from photographs or sketches) Ahmed has the fantastic ability to really see a scene for what it is; a compilation of shapes, forms and colors with light as the dynamic force. For me, Ahmed paints the familiar and honors the beauty inherent in the scene, that my eye otherwise was treating as mundane.” - Claire Ochoa
MEET THE ARTIST RECEPTION WHY PAINT FROM REAL LIFE? According to the Plein-Air Painters of America, “Painting from life is a pursuit unlike any other painting technique. It challenges artists to concentrate every sensory nerve on the information in front of them. They absorb it all, from sight to sound, from temperature to atmosphere, and then channel those feelings form head to hand, re-creating the vision in paints on paper or canvas.”
For Ahmed the magic of painting from life is channeled through the activity of his brush to the canvas. Ahmed does not draw and layout his subject on canvas prior to painting. Instead, he begins by using bold, course brushstrokes. He feels the initial strokes of the brush will decide on what comes next, and it is the activity of the brush itself that will dictate the painting. This ‘dance of the hand’ creates a relationship between the artist and his brushstrokes allowing him to first paint what he sees, but ultimately creating a painting that expresses what he feels. The results are paintings that are representational, yet achieve a level of abstraction. The exhibit includes oil paintings of still life scenes, landscapes, and portraits.
INFLUENCE Ahmed graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts and a B.A. in Architecture from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and has lived in St. Thomas for the past eight years. The exhibit continues through April 10. All works
are available for purchase.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
