Statement:
A native of Cleveland Ohio, I was struck by the beauty of the northeastern forests and mountains after moving to New Hampshire in 1979. My work is influenced by sparkling snow on bare branches, bursting spring buds and leaves, luxuriant summer canopies and outrageously colorful autumn foliage. I reveal, in my paintings, my daily experience of being in the woods and the reverence that I feel for the natural world.
I work with encaustic paints and mixed media. My work teeters between realism and abstraction. My paintings do not necessarily depict particular places, but represent all the wild places that I so love. I build the paintings, bringing to light or hiding, through layering, scraping, adding and subtracting of paint, paper, thread, foil and drawing elements, just as leaves and twigs, rocks and dirt build up the forest floor.
In our climactically changing world, I hope to celebrate our reverence for our natural surroundings and record the rapidly vanishing wilderness. I hope that my work will allow people to experience our northern woods and promote a sense of stewardship of the natural world.
Bio:
Stephanie Gordon has made art her whole life. She is a practicing artist and art teacher who has worked in many media and taught people of all ages.
Stephanie is from Cleveland, Ohio, where the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art influenced her from a young age. She received her BFA from the University of Michigan College of Art and Design and studied art and culture in France during her junior year. She moved to the Upper Valley in 1979, where she worked as a stained-glass artist, designer, painter and educator. She taught art for many years at Hanover High.
Stephanie creates encaustics with mixed media work. Struck by the beauty and luminosity of the encaustic Fayum mummy portraits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she resolved to master this ancient medium. Having used the medium for 16 years, she now also teaches classes in encaustic painting. Stephanie Gordon’s work has won awards, appeared in many juried exhibitions and been collected regionally and nationally.
Website: sbgordonart.com