Rebecca Mitchell

(Fairfield, Connecticut, United States)

Biography – Biographie

I grew up in a family where aesthetics were important. I always drew and later painted, taking full advantage of art classes in school. Work, marriage and family became my focus for many years, and I painted infrequently. My husband and I collected many paintings and visited art museums during our travels around the world. It was only when we moved to Pawleys Island, South Carolina that I returned fully to painting. Studies with Jef Strum, Elizabeth Bronson, Jim Calk, Betsy Havens, as well as Alice Mumford at St. Ives School of Painting (England) and plein air in Old Lyme, Connecticut enabled me to exhibit and sell paintings. My works have been shown at the following: First Baptist Church, Jackson, KY (Baptistry Mural); Georgetown Art Gallery, Georgetown, SC; Another Time Art Gallery, McClellanville, SC; Rice Museum, Georgetown (two awards – first place for painting and second place award); the Episcopal Children’s Town, Rock Hill, SC; Town House Restaurant, Georgetown; and private sales and auctions.

J’ai grandi dans une famille où l’esthétique était importante. J’ai toujours dessiné et plus tard peint, en profitant pleinement des cours d’art à l’école. Le travail, le mariage et la famille sont devenus mes priorités pendant de nombreuses années, et je ne peignais que rarement. Mon mari et moi avons collectionné de nombreux tableaux et visité des musées d’art lors de nos voyages à travers le monde. Ce n’est que lorsque nous avons déménagé à Pawleys Island, en Caroline du Sud, que j’ai repris pleinement la peinture. Des études avec Jef Strum, Elizabeth Bronson, Jim Calk, Betsy Havens, ainsi qu’Alice Mumford à l’école de peinture de St. Ives (Angleterre) et en plein air à Old Lyme, Connecticut, m’ont permis d’exposer et de vendre des peintures. Mes œuvres ont été exposées aux endroits suivants : First Baptist Church, Jackson, KY (Baptistry Mural) ; Georgetown Art Gallery, Georgetown, SC ; Another Time Art Gallery, McClellanville, SC ; Rice Museum, Georgetown (deux prix – premier prix pour la peinture et deuxième prix) ; the Episcopal Children’s Town, Rock Hill, SC ; Town House Restaurant, Georgetown ; et ventes privées et ventes aux enchères.

Statement – Démarche artistique

Maturity in my painting series balances simplicity with challenge, the yin/yang of recognizable objects on a plane, with two separate entities in juxtaposition to create a thought or a feeling. Each painting has the same four horizontal planes: sky, sea, beach, and white horizontal plane.

Each painting has a transparent vase. The white plane or base is unknown, perhaps it is suspended in air. The sky is calm; there are no clouds. However, in one painting there is a distant bird to foretell the next painting.

The seas are somewhat turbulent. The movement of the water adds tension to the calm and serenity of the other planes. The shoreline and beach lead the eye to the objects on the white plane to generate the unspoken thought. The palate is primary colors.

Each painting differs by the choice of a vertical botanical in the vase, plus an additional object. These small (8” X 10”) paintings cross genres. Are they still life’s, land or seascapes, or surreal? If surreal, angst is absent.

They could be likened to Magritte’s “Windows” series or Alice Mumford’s “Table Settings.” However, I am more influenced by Philip Curtis, American realist, because I knew and admired him. The series of paintings may be considered naïve, but my intent is to create a puzzle, with the potential of different solutions or a journey with different destinations.

The series are painted on small canvas boards, capturing the sense of containment of thought. The paint was applied in most of the series, by palate knife, slowly and methodically allowing the painter to be more physically involved by utilizing finger and arm movement in a manner unlike painting with brush.

The whole process of creating the series has caused me to reflect not only on these paintings, but also my paintings in the past and what they may intimate about me as a painter and person. If I have a consistent theme in art and life, it is optimism. That optimism influenced subject matter, palate color, and form.