The point of contact, the moment my brush hits the canvas and glides across the surface echoing my thoughts in the process. The act of creating, transforming an empty canvas into a portal that leads to a place, a time, an emotion.
Art is a celebration of life for me. Through my work I examine the world closer and peer deeper into the subject, inviting the viewer to do the same. I am inspired by the idea that I can extend the beauty I see and shape it to express not only the tangible but the intangible qualities. I am driven by the challenge this offers and relish in the journey of the exploration.
I'm lured by the visual language to create poetry with paint. By arranging color, line, value, and shape, I am expressing an idea, evoking a mood, and eliciting an emotional response. My work is a fusion of sight and insight because I focus on the emotional content, filtering the detail, and creating the design to express the essence of the subject before me.
Pacific Pulse
South of San Francisco sits the jagged coastline of Big Sur where some of the most spectacular displays of natural forces are at work, both violent and serene. The daily drama unfolds as our past and present collide, and through that rhythmic pulse, the beating heart of nature is revealed. It is a reminder of the interconnection of all things.
This series is a culmination of several trips along the Pacific, painting and sketching to capture the life of this iconic coastline. I try to express the beauty that is evident and also relate the mood and feeling to the viewer. I work in plein air using oils, charcoal, and watercolor, sometimes camping out for several days in an area where I want to focus. These studies serve as the basis for the larger pieces in this collection. While working on location, I don't look for details, but rather the feeling that my subject imparts.
Observing a lone cypress tree clinging to an edge of a cliff inspires me to paint The Cypress because of how it perseveres in the face of adversity, by twisting and turning to hold on, and in the process shaping its unique character. Not only does it serve as a portrait of another life form, simply expressing the tree's beauty, it also reflects the human condition in a sense. Juxtaposed to that painting is California Sunrise, where a lone figure is shown in isolation walking towards an uncertain horizon, lonely and anonymous in an urban wilderness. Like The Cypress, the figure represents how every individual is shaped by the uncertainties and challenges of life.
The tangible qualities lay on the surface, but like an ocean's undertow, its true power lies in the undercurrent of the intangible.
Nicholaus Aman
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