703-644-6512

kmbgillmann@yahoo.com

Whether working on canvas or paper, I particularly enjoy teasing the surface to create an illusion of deep or shallow space.  As a contemporary realist, I also delight in energizing my work with color, light, texture and through compositional choices. My work builds on my strong training in figure drawing, landscape painting and study of Western and contemporary art. 

Acrylic paint intrigues me due to its versatility, spontaneity, and speed.  Sometimes I wonder, why use any other medium?  Then I will rediscover the seductively diverse lines that can be built with graphite, charcoal or colored pencil and feel again like the young child in the public library - let me have several books (media) at once!  I want to learn from all.  Thus, when beginning a new work,  I select the medium which will best embody my vision.  Sometimes I choose acrylic, at other times pastel or watercolor in response to the chosen subject - perhaps a friend, color saturated clouds, or a reflective stream.
 
As an avid gardener and outdoor enthusiast, I delight in many elements of the natural world: ragged rocks, crashing waves, gnarled trees, delicate blossoms, rippled water, luminous clouds, the immensity of the Milky Way.  Almost anything in this world may motivate my art work.  As a child I observed much and wondered about much.  I have not stopped wondering and this is what motivates much of what I draw and paint.  I rarely work strictly from my imagination for two reasons:  first, due to my strong training in drawing from life and second, because what surrounds me externally so frequently enthralls me completely.

Raised in southern Maine, I grew up surrounded by the stunning beauty of tide pools, lakes and forests, and soon developed interests in the arts and sciences. In third grade, I still recall learning to paint snow shadows with blue tempera and in high school I placed first in a Red Cross poster contest.

After graduating with two closely related bachelor's degrees in the arts, I followed the career trajectory begun in college by working in Portland, Maine initially in historic interpretation and museum education and later for an architectural firm. In 1991, I completed an MLS at the University of Maryland and then flew immediately to Paris, France for an internship documenting our cultural world heritage. Upon my return to the States, I worked in libraries for a decade. Then in 2002, I began a significant career shift -- I returned to my first love by taking art courses locally in various media and setting up a studio at home.

By 2006 I began to garner some professional recognition.  At the Art League Gallery in the Torpedo Factory (Alexandria, VA) a pastel painting juried into the August Landscape show and shortly thereafter my pastel of autumn leaves, The Trees of the Field shall clap their Hands, (seen above, top left) took First Place at the Springfield Art Guild's annual River Farm art show. Since then, many paintings and drawings have juried into local shows hosted by the Art League, the Springfield Art Guild, and others.

In 2009, three landscapes entitled Hiker's Delight 1, 2 and 3 had the distinction of appearing in three different juried shows within 3 months. The pastel version, Hiker's Delight 1 (above right, second down) received the special honor of jury acceptance into the national show, "Shades of Pastel 2009" sponsored by the Maryland Pastel Society. Most recently, a large charcoal and colored pencil drawing entitled Where Land Meets Sea (above left, second down) received an Honorable Mention at the January 2010 All Media Member show at the Art League.

In December 2009, I received the honor and privilege of being accepted by jury as an Artist Associate at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA.  Please visit the Artist Associate's Gallery in building W-16 to see my recent paintings. 

Several of my paintings are now privately owned and my first commissioned work, a large acrylic diptych of sea shells, adorns a wall at Life Choices Resource Center (Sanctity of Life Ministries) in Fairfax, VA.

At this point in my career, I enjoy working in several media including pastel, water color, charcoal, and acrylic.  To see more of my paintings online please look for my name in the "Artist's Directory" at www.workhousearts.org.  If you are interested in purchasing an existing art work or would like to discuss a commission, please contact me directly at kmbgillmann@yahoo.com.