Artist E.B. Kellinger, of Richmond VA, creates colorful and dynamic large-scale oil paintings.

Ms. Kellinger takes a variety of subjects (people, flowers, vegetables, fruit), simplifies form and saturates with intense color. The end result is truly unique; large paintings with vibrant color and a surprising textural feel. She has had shown her work at Art Works, Lift (as part of First Fridays on Broad Street), Montpelier Center for Arts & Education, Zeus Gallery Café, Capital One, Artspace, art6 and Project Space Gallery @ Plant Zero.

In the words of the artist:

My paintings result from my fascination with the strange symmetry of the things we look at every day when viewed up close. What seems at first glance to be chaos is truly organized. And in the final viewing, what seems to be organized is actually chaos. This dichotomy is, in a way, a personal metaphor and the pretense of control is an overriding theme in my life and my work. While seeking to command my environment, I find, more often than not, the reverse to be true. This lack of control leads me to unpredictable and, often, more compelling places, both in life and art.

Regarding my process: I start by photographing my subject. Lines are simplified based on the values of light and dark within and then are transferred to canvas. I fill in each color value, using a palette of eight to nine gradations of one color. Each layer, each value, results in an organized pattern, which would be indistinguishable when viewed as a whole. I apply two coats of each layer to create opaque fields of color. Brush strokes are smoothed out, with the exception of raised borders that create a textural feel. The painting is then finished with a glossy overcoat. The result is precise yet simplified, recognizable yet abstract, real yet illusory.

E.B. Kellinger