Realism
artist Arleta Pech was raised as the only child in a farming family of
limited means. Art exposure came not from museums or art schools, but from
paper, paint, and crayons. She brought to this an imagination fostered by
repeated readings of Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, in which she found
a kindred, though fictional spirit. ....more
My goal is to engage the viewer on three levels: artistically, emotionally,
and intellectually. These collections, specifically, ask that the viewer
“suspend reality”.
- Arleta Pech
Springtime Memories
Dogwood
blooms cut to grace a pure white mantle conjure up images of spring come
to the South. The tonal scheme, all in coolest shades of bluish whites
and grays are reflected in the mirror of the silver vessel. It is all
balance and light: the elegant turn of the handles, the perfect symmetry
of the quadruple bracts of the dogwood. Even the tight little flowers at
the blooms’ centers are still closed, still green, still fresh. White
may well be the signature color of the Old South. The white mantle rests
against the white wall inside the large white plantation home. Dogwoods
bloom white as the heralds of spring. Soon, the countryside will explode
into floral extravagance. But for now, it is cool, it is spring, it is
pure, it is white.
The still
life subject is placed against a backdrop of white, gray and darkness,
creating a grid in cool tones. the warmth of the red buds and berries
seem to glow with warmth emanating from an unseen source. The time is
clearly winter, suggested by the cold, sleek, silver goblet with its
elongated stem; the bowl of the goblet and its red reflections stand
tall above the stark branches of the berry plant. Yet the roses are in
full bloom in this mid-winter scene. Have we once again gone into
Alice's Wonderland? Is this the red of the Queen of Hearts?
