Sep. 12—Still-life artist Sarah Blumenschein has been painting since the early 2000s, with several group exhibitions over the years. Now, she has her first solo show at Weems Gallery.
“Stillness Speaks: A Celebration of the Art of Still Life” features 45 pieces by Blumenschein and will be on display starting Sept. 12.
Blumenschein began focusing on still lifes after encouragement from an art teacher.
Still lifes appealed to her because they allowed her some element of control.
“If I was painting outside, you’d have bugs, you’d have the weather, the wind, everything,” Blumenschein said. “I kind of like the control aspect of it and the ability to end with still life.”
Blumenschein’s still lifes emphasize color and reflection and depict roses, sunflowers, carrots, beets, vases and more.
Inspiration can strike at any time, she said.
“I have a painting in the show of carrots. I was at the grocery store, and the carrots had purple ties on them. And I thought, ‘Oh, that’s cool, the orange carrots with the purple ties,'” Blumenschein said. “So I took several pictures, and I did the painting of the carrots.”
“Carrots,” a 14-inch-by-18-inch pastel, is one of many paintings in the show. All the pieces will be for sale.
“I think still life gets overlooked,” Blumenschein said. “People tend to gravitate towards landscape.”
Weems Gallery manager Suzanne Woodworth said the gallery wanted to showcase still lifes.
“There’s something just so wonderful about the stillness in a still life, just capturing a moment, capturing the light in a moment,” Woodworth said. “And so that’s kind of what she specializes in and so we just thought it just would be a fantastic theme for a show.”
The show will include a live demonstration and talk with Blumenschein on Oct. 4.
“What’s pretty amazing is the high number of layers of color that they use when they create a piece,” Woodworth said. “And so she can talk to that, and they can actually see the process. And then they’ll have a better understanding of not only her artwork, but that medium.”
Blumenschein has done group shows with Weems Gallery, but this is her first solo exhibition there.
“It is a little daunting to think of. Oh my gosh, I have to do so many paintings for the show,” she said. “And so the number of paintings was kind of a little nerve-racking that I was so excited I made the deadline.”
