Rebekah Conder Fine Arts | Rebekah Conder
Artist Name:
Rebekah Conder
Description of Artwork:
My work starts in the field with Plein Air painting, typically using linen, oil, and some gouache. These smaller studies are used for color reference for larger work on hand stretched linen canvases, and go through many different stages before being set aside for an extended period of time before being varnished.
Artist Biography:
Quiet and solitude. Two of the things that are hardest to find today with the constant need for things that distract us from the beauty around us. I am a part of a tradition that has been well tested by time, with many other artists who have had an interest in depicting this quiet. I have found myself drawn to the truths of the Lords presence through the beauty of His creation, and the ability to connect to Him in the silence of nature. There is a holy quiet when you are in the wild by yourself, with only your easel and canvas before you. These places often exceed their immediate simplicity when first viewed, and even the simplest of scenes can be a compelling painting. These are the things that draw me to paint, and I seek to follow the old masters who laid the groundwork for my style.
The wilderness has intrigued mankind since the beginning of time, and the Impressionists and Romanticists of the 19th century found themselves intrigued by awe-inspiring scenes of natural grandeur. I am no different than them, and I often find myself looking back to them for inspiration, both in my techniques of applying paint, to the stretching of canvases for my work. There is something simplistic and yet unexpected in the way that I choose scenes to paint from in nature. Plein air art is informed by one’s experience in nature, and oftentimes that also spills into the studio through the imagination of scenes we have seen previously. Many artists have preceded me, and I am deeply impacted by the works of Don Parks and Scott Christensen, both of whom successfully capture this beautiful solitude of nature.