Stephanie Peek

Wreath: ROME / olympian gold - oil painting

2014

Olympic games 'Wreath' from Stephanie Peek, who makes her home in California, is beautifully rendered with a sense of depth, intellect, timelessness and beauty. Inspired by a time the artist spent in Italy, and found herself strongly drawn to the history and mystery of antique Roman laurels. Here, the golden wreath appears to float above the clouds in a surrealist, Magritte like sky. The clear blue has an ethereal quality with glimmering gold. The painting's edges are painted white, so framing is not required. If framing is desired, we can provide it for an additional cost. Signed on verso by artist: Artist's statement— The genesis of this oil painting, “Wreath,” is the classic laurel wreath fashioned in gold and awarded to victors, both athletic and poetic, in ancient Greece and Rome. From my studio at the American Academy in Rome, I looked out over the city and imagined these memorials to those who have crossed finish lines, so to speak, who have won their races. Suspended in silence, this wreath speaks for me not only of wordly success with its ephemeral nature, but also of a kind of lasting victory that art can remind us of. "Ars longa...

'Bright Light' from Stephanie Peek, who makes her home in California, is beautifully rendered with a sense of depth, intellect, timelessness, and mystery. An elegant painting referencing dried eucalyptus leaves that the artist piled up in her studio and studied under a variety of natural and man-made lighting arrangements, as well as at various times of day and night. Oil on panel with natural alabaster ground into the pigments. The painting celebrates natures abstract qualities with a realist's approach. Peek has floated tulips, roses and other flowers and leaves from 17th century still life paintings through the dark smoky atmosphere of her paintings of night...

Humble vegetation, subdued and controlled, urban. Plants that we do not pay attention to, a reminder of an increasingly weak and remote link with nature. Leaves and branches relocate...

'Opal Painting (gold)' 2018 by Catherine Howe. Fluorescent & mica pigments in acrylic mediums, 24K gold leaf gilded on canvas, 30 x 30 in.. This painting features Howe's signature ab...