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GRACE SCHLESIER “My paintings are inspired by the natural world…. Inspiration to me is passion. It’s the “wow” moment…... It’s when I know this is what I want to paint!” …It could be the way the land is lighted, the interchange of shapes,
the colors, the atmosphere, everything melding together to set the mood
I have to be one with nature, absorb her and become an integral part of what lies
before me; only then do I apply the first strokes of paint.
Letting go of preconceived ideas, everything seems to work. The palette is
harmonious, things fall into place and nature leads, all I have to do is follow. In nature,
everything changes rapidly, but it’s the truth I must preserve.
Sorolla said it best… “All the mistakes committed by great artists are due to
their having separated themselves from truth, believing that their imagination is
stronger…There is nothing stronger than nature. With
nature in front of us we can do everything well.” Learning the basics is absolutely fundamental, discipline absolute. Schlesier studied art in school and then continued at the Art Students League, NY and the Scottdale Artists School. Teaching art for ten years until a demanding show schedule required her full time attention and she discontinued teaching and began painting full time. Schlesier admires and continues to study the early California painters, the Impressionists, the Hudson River School and some modern masters such as Schmid, Aspevig and Christensen. Being a member of the National Academy of Professional Plein Air Painters, California Art Club and Oil Painters of America, Schlesier continues to hone her professional skills. Schlesier says, “Taking the leap, experimenting, sometimes filling me with frustration, but always refreshing, and, for me, a necessity for growth. In the end it’s the trial and error, painting out of doors and taking nature’s lead that keeps my work fresh.” As more and more people are discovering Schlesier’s work, they are experiencing nature’s truths. Enjoying a Schlesier painting, is a respite from the material world of rush and hurry, a place to unwind, a place so seldom found today. Presently paintings by Schlesier can be seen at Judith Hale Gallery in Los Olivos, CA; Village Frame and Gallery in Montecito, CA; Enchanted Gallery, Del Mar, CA; Villas and Verandas Gallery in San Juan Capistrano; Amsterdam Whitney International Fine Art Gallery; and the Zantman Galleries in Carmel and Palm Desert. Her work can also be viewed at www.artgallery.bz Her work has been in over a hundred National and International gallery and museum juried shows throughout the past, consistently winning awards. In the past couple of years Schlesier has had successful solo shows and exhibitions including the prestigious Arts For the Parks, Peppertree Ranch Show, the National and Regional Oil Painters of America, American Impressionists, National Academy of Professional Plein Air Painters, and various exhibitions at the National Arts Club of New York. She has also been invited to Plein Air invitationals such as Carmel, La Quint Desert Plein Air and Tucson and also the Biennale Interazionale Dell”Arte Contemporanea in Florence, Italy. In the fall of 2007, Schlesier will be honored at an opening of her work at the Amsterdam-Whitney Gallery in mid-town New York in the Chelsea District. A successful and collected artist , SkyWest, the magazine for Delta and United Airlines, has featured her work for their passengers in-flight reading. Schlesier’s painting “Mountain Air”, and a description of the hows and whys of why she painted it is included in International Artists’ new book entitled “How Did You Paint That?”, published this year. Her work has been highlighted in Southwest Art, Art of the West, and The Artist magazines and published in a coffee table book entitled, “Art of the American West”.
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