Samantha French

Morning Reflections: Figurative Photo-Realist Oil Painting of Woman in Water

2025

Blue (Sepia Toned Figurative Oil Painting of Boys on Bikes with Blue Ball) Contemporary figurative painting based on a 1960's photograph, plays deeply on feelings of nostalgia and identity. oil on wood panel 20 x 20 x 2 inches Carl Grauer’s 'Blue' plays with the tension between memories, the “return to home”, and the actual experienced past through the renderings of the family unit. Inspired by images on found slides or old family photos, Grauer provokes mixed responses of delight and sadness, reminding us that unlike space, time cannot be returned. Grauer paints 'Blue' in black and white, sepia tones, and blue oil paint on wood to capture the nostalgia of a vintage 1950's photograph. Two young children ride bicycles in a charming landscape while one child holds a big blue ball. The blue ball beautifully contrasts with the sepia toned landscape. The brushstrokes are smooth, with little texture built upon the surface. About the work: Recollections, a series that plays with the tension between memories, the “return to home”, and the actual experienced past, is an idea that I explore through the renderings of the family unit. Nostalgia comes from the Greek word nostos, meaning “to return to home” and algos, meaning “pain”. Before the rise of pathological anatomy and bacteriology made it less credible, medically; nostalgia was considered a “disorder of the imagination. Through time, nostalgia’s meaning became a more generalized reaction to the sad fact that, unlike space, time cannot be returned. I initially began with source imagery of found slides and photos of people I find at flea markets, second hand stores or from my own family’s collection. I take the source imagery and change elements to signify specific moments that could be seen as memories that are remembered or forgotten. I aim to represent nostalgic scenes that may relay a tension, sorrow or humor that could be constructed memories or actual experienced events. The exact narrative may be forgotten or unknown, but the complex projection of an idealized story that I find intriguing may serve to reflect a feeling or memory for another person. CV 1975 Born in Wilson, Kansas, USA EDUCATION 1998 Bachelor of Arts – University of Kansas 2000 Mastor of Fine Arts – University of Michigan 2015 Portrait and Figure Painting – London Atelier of Representational Art EXHIBITIONS 2016 "Petit: A Group Exhibition of Smaller Sized Art...

Modern, academic style portrait painting on canvas of a young athletic male oil on canvas, 26 x 17 inches in antique wood frame This vertical, contemporary portrait painting of sin...