 |
 |
 |
Vicki Ingham |
|
Birch Bark Masks Oil on gessoed board |
Artist Statement: Until 2013, I primarily painted landscapes in a more or less impressionistic style, with intense color and an emphasis on the drama of light and shadow. In 2020, when I had to replace workouts at the gym with long walks outdoors, I started paying more attention to individual trees, particularly the bark. I began painting “portraits” of sycamore bark and branches and birch bark, trying to look carefully and capture as much detail as possible. That led to more-than-lifesize paintings of black walnut shells, with their interiors of curvy chambers. Close looking was a way of expressing gratitude for the particular beauty, colors, and textures of the bark and the nuts. Bio: Born and raised in Virginia, Vicki Ingham began painting and drawing at the age of 9 or 10, but did not pursue painting professionally until the early 1990s. While working as an editor and writer for publishing companies in Birmingham, Alabama, and Des Moines, Iowa, she also took undergraduate studio art courses at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and classes at the Des Moines Art Center, Birmingham Museum of Art, the Greater Birmingham Arts Alliance, and Space 111. In 1992, she participated in a month-long painting workshop in Assisi, Italy, and continued to visit Italy often to paint and to take photos, which she has used to make finished paintings in her studio. From 1995 to the early 2000s, her work was represented in galleries in Birmingham and Iowa. |
