JOYCE RUDOLPH
Capturing a scene on canvas completes Trish Kertes.
The La Canada Flintridge artist paints landscapes almost
exclusively, but also does some still life, like flowers in vases or
objects, especially antiques and heirlooms.
"Things that are special to me," she said.
One of the things she's known for is plein-air painting, taking
one's paints, brushes and canvas outdoors and painting the scenery
and capturing the light the way it is, which, she added, has to been
done fast because the light changes within a few minutes.
The process is an uplifting experience for the oil painter.
"When I am painting and standing in nature, it's a way of
connecting with my own spirituality -- something greater than just
myself," she said. "And yet, it's very challenging to interpret the
colors as nature is full of design and colors that need to be
simplified in order to be put down on the canvas."
Color is what first attracts her to a scene. That is well
illustrated in "Fields of Flowers," which she painted in Santa Paula,
off Highway 126 on the way up to Santa Barbara.
The painting is in a group exhibit presented by Segil Fine Art
Source at Whites Gallery in Montrose.
Kertes painted in watercolors for 20 years until changing over to
oil in 1991.
"I found that oils allowed me to express what I could visualize in
my mind more directly than watercolor," she said. "I love the
richness and intense color you can get with oils."
She paints a lot of her work while traveling. Locations have
ranged from the California wine country to the Grand Tetons in
Wyoming. The Grand Tetons are fascinating to her because they are
very sharp and angular compared to the rounded mountains found in
Sierra Nevada and those surrounding her home.
Painting for her is a meditative process, she said. It's not
logical but more intuitive.
"My eyes see it and my hand mixes the paint without my mind
getting caught up and thinking about it," she said, adding, "It
nurtures my soul. It gives me such a feeling of completeness to have
expressed an idea in that way. Like kids do when they play a long
time. They get engrossed. Painting is play for adults."
Other artists participating in the group show are Nadina Rose
Kimber from Montrose; Diane R. Isaacs, James Manlio Meredith, Beth
Rohman and Shirley Flynn from La Canada Flintridge; and Andrea Dern
from Pasadena.
The media includes original oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings,
digital photography, collage and mixed media and ceramics.
