Description

Plein Air Artist DemonstrationBuilding Solidity: Painting in the Gardenw/Caleb StoltzfusThursday, June 45:30 - 7:00pm


Join Caleb in the garden as he paints the flowers in bloom. He will walk you through his approach to building a picture, beginning with drawing in larger shapes and building up layers until he has a crisp, detailed interpretation of the subject. If weather is unpleasant, we will meet inside.
Caleb Stoltzfus began learning to draw and paint at an atelier under Nelson Carlin in 2008. He received a BA in Art from Covenant College in 2015 and studied landscape painting and composition under Daud Akhriev from 2016-2017. He completed the Mount Gretna Studio Seminar in 2023. Stoltzfus is based in Philadelphia and has exhibited his paintings and sculptures throughout the Midwest and North East, including group shows at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Procession Gallery in Philadelphia, Art at Kings Oaks in Newtown, First Street Gallery and Pushup Gallery in New York, as well as internationally at the Hampstead Society in London. He had a solo show in Philadelphia at Gross McCleaf. This is his fourth year participating in the Wayne Art Center Annual Plein Air Festival.

STATEMENT
My work draws upon the symbolic significance of people, places, and objects to underscore the spiritual significance of the material world. Plein air painting is an integral part of this exploration since it provides direct access to a primary source. My paintings are both purposeful constructs and reactive observations. I try to consider different aspects of my observed experience, including what I know versus what I discover. Observational paintings are expansive—they’re big enough to encapsulate the complexities and contradictions of lived experience. In painting the landscape, I attempt to capture the coexistence of order and chaos, fear and humor, abstraction and particularity in places personal to me.

Instructor

Caleb Stoltzfus