KIM DRUKER STOCKWELL
Gouache Women (Kim's Little Women)
The state of mind of these fictitious little characters is revealed in their expressions and physical gestures. Their bodies are imperfect, maybe awkward, but always feminine. Ready to take on what comes, nail polish is their sword and lipstick is their shield.
Boston Series
The Boston series began with a walk with her father during COVID. February 2021, the city had a delightful snow fall and very few residents. Thanks to the elegant lighting of both the Public Garden and the Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Kim and her dad took several magical photos. It is from these photos that she paints the Boston series. Kim strives to capture the fairytale glow of the pink/yellow lights, and the purple quiet of freshly fallen snow.
Floral
I have long been influenced by Sally Michel and Lois Dodd. Their floral paintings, to me, are highly personalized and reflect what they take away from the scene of a vase of flowers, not what those same flowers look like to someone else. Flowers elicit a level of excitement in me. They are lyrical, sensual. The colors, unpredictable, glorious and impossible to replicate but inspiring to try.
My Floral Burst series stemmed from a Horticulture conference last fall that had gorgeous table arrangements. I photographed The arrangements from above and was struck by the energy they exuded. The visual of a bursting arrangement of flowers makes me smile. They are meant to be funny and cheerful. But, they are also quite large and detailed which requires the viewer to take them seriously.
Landscapes
The White Mountains of New Hampshire are a frequent subject for Kim. Painting en plein air, the work is less about rocks and trees as color and light. The patterns created by the natural rugged beauty are reflected on her canvases in a series of graceful brush strokes and scrape of the pallet knife; toying with appearance and reality. Kim’s paintings are built up with paint that is rubbed in, scraped off, and painted over, mimicking nature’s life cycle process. The result is a complexity of space and the unique quality of color that will not be found in a tube.
Abstracts
Cold wax, "oops" house paint from her local hardware store, gesso, and oil paint are brought together to create Kim's abstract series. Sometimes with a particular place in mind, and sometimes with a pattern she needs to explore, the focus is always on color and form.
If asked why she paints Kim might talk about her sensory experience as it relates to a particular area: the mountains, the sea, a city. But, the real reason behind her work is color. She continually experiments with her pallet. Two colors can create a vibration in the mind that is both visually interesting and physically affective. It is a driving force behind all of her painting, and particularly her abstracts.
Moroccan Rug Series
I have a small rug that my grandmother bought in Morocco in the 1950s. It deep orange, red, saffron yellow, with light blue, black and white details. It is a fascinating little rug. One day I felt as though I had seen it for the first time and took in the imperfections and free hand style of design. No pun, but, I was hooked. Twenty paintings of various sizes from 4"x6" to 5'x4' and everything in-between I have amassed a series that celebrates the imperfections of art made by the human hand. Each color is uniquely mixed and the designs are taken from other actual Moroccan carpets and blown up or shrunken down.