Artist's Statement

Inspiration

I’m captivated by people. Individual portraits have dominated most of my work to date and will continue to comprise a large part of my artistic efforts. Nonetheless, I’m increasingly drawn to more complex subjects with stronger narrative themes and a broader range of emotion and experiences.

Technique

My work couples the structure of classical portrait and figure painting with clear, brilliant colors rarely seen in traditional or contemporary works in these fields. I portray what I find most compelling about my subjects’ character and personality through expression, gesture, setting, composition, color, and brushwork. I don’t believe an artist can or should record people objectively. If my emotions don’t move my paint, my paintings won’t move you.

Working from Life

I work from life whenever possible. This generates energy unachievable through other means. To bolster this energy, I rarely ask my subjects to hold still. People reveal themselves to me when they relax, talk, and laugh. Because of their movement, I may catch a mouth at one angle and eyes, or other features, at a slightly different angle. I often embrace these shifts as faithful depictions of parts of the same person at different moments. This creates both movement and a sense of timelessness. I show more of the whole person and breathe life into my work.

Influences

I depend upon classical structure inspired by the works of John Singer Sargent, Anders Zorn, Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Carravaggio, and traditions of realism tracing back to the Renaissance masters. The rich, vibrant colors that I add to this structure enhance my paintings’ emotional impact. I draw inspiration here from the paintings of Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, who is perhaps my greatest influence, and the optics of direct color application explored by the impressionists.

Passion

Nerve damage to my hands disabled me from my former legal career, which I loved. But I've been blessed with a new, creative career I also love. How many get two bites at the apple?

My disability prevents me from becoming as prolific as I wish to be or as most other artists can be. Perhaps because of this, however, I cherish each moment I get to paint and I'm driven to achieve as much as I can with each work.

 

 

All pages and images are copyright by Edward J. Reed.  All rights reserved.

No part of this site may be reroduced without prior written consent.