Artist Meredith Nemirov on a roll: shows of her work now in town and ongoing

28 Oct Artist Meredith Nemirov on a roll: shows of her work now in town and ongoing

Meredith Nemirov has always painted her mind, and she is known for saying a mouthful in a few strokes – or words.

“To stand and face a whole landscape, to paint ‘en plein air’ and make a painting capturing the scene on a two-dimensional surface in a relatively short period of time is rigorous, but that’s what we artists are driven to do day after day: we interpret our world to find our place in it.”

For the last four years, Meredith has participated in the Sheridan Arts Foundation’s vetted “Plein Air” exhibition, an event that happens annually over the Fourth of July weekend. In 2007, she was chosen as one of the Top Ten Artists. Last summer, she was the winner of the “quick draw.”

A show of Nemirov’s “Views from Pandora,” all watercolors painted this year at Plein Air, is now on display at the office of Chris Chaffin and Idarado Legacy, 123 South Spruce through November. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the work will be donated to the Sheridan Arts Foundation.

‘Watercolor adds to the challenge. It dries much more quickly than oil. However, I have been using the medium most of my life and I like the transparency.”

Shows of Merdith’s latest work, all abstractions, are planned from the end of this year well into 2009.

Until this past winter, Meredith could be described as a realist: what she saw was what we got. Something happened this past winter, however, when she was one of four artists-in-residence at the prestigious Anderson Ranch in Snowmass: Meredith pulled a Mondrian.

Mondrian (1874 – 1944), the Dutch painter who became one of the most important figures in the development of abstract art, started out like Meredith painting naturalistically. Later on in his career, his celebrated color grids were all about pattern, color, and movement, reflecting his interest in jazz and dancing.

Since the death of her father two years ago, Meredith has been painting aspen trees obsessively, prayerfully, finding solace in their graceful, humorous, awkward, changeable forms.

She continues to paint aspens obsessively, only what was once anthropomorphized has been reduced, – happily, brilliantly, I might add – to shape and color without reference to figure and ground. Now her images reinforce, rather than fight, the two-dimensional medium in which she works.

“When you paint something over and over again, repetitive forms begin to catch your eye as do certain colors. I think my new abstractions dance, reflecting my growing interest in rhythm and pattern. My colors still reflect the natural world.”

Personally I think that with these new images, Meredith has found much a more resonant, powerful voice. Baby, you’ve come a long way.
Judge for yourself by visiting her website, www.meredithnemirov.com , where you will also find a schedule of her upcoming shows.