Abstract Art By Stephen D Stewart

My art means a great deal to me and I take it very seriously. Like Agnes Martin, I believe in the purity of art. It's force is like that of a wave it comes in then goes out. I strive to constantly make my work better and better each time. But like Pat Steir, I try to let the painting take place on it's own and only manipulate certain aspects of the work. For me, my expressiveness is central to my artwork, it defines it if you will. I achieve this by a strong use of color and bold brush strokes. At times you can see the frenzy of the brush sliding across the canvas. This electricity or energetic force is what gives my works, what I call, aliveness. It is the energy or force that you feel when you stand in front of my works.

In my process, I primarily use oil, acrylic, oil pastels and graphite. Typically, I will use many layers of paint and mark making as well as blending to achieve my desired affects. While painting many of my marks and brush strokes are made to classical music. In particular, Cello and Violin Concertos. I am particularly fond of Vivaldi.

People often ask, how do you know when a painting is done? There is a painter from New Zealand that I greatly admire Doreen McNeill she summed it up the best " I paint till the painting becomes alive and then I stop!". She believed as I do that you should stop at that point regardless. If you continue it may kill the painting. I don't make pretty paintings I make paintings that matter. For me, I do Art for Art's Sake.