KATHRYN SHAGAS, BELFAST, MAINE

“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” —Dorothy Parker

The call for “Delirium” sent me to paintings where my wild mind triumphed over my disciplined eye.

I walk in a forest or stand at the water’s edge to watch the moon rise. Sometimes I sketch, not trying to represent what I see as much as absorbing the rhythmic feeling of a place. I come back hours later and hear the tranquil conversations between rocks, wind and water, occasionally blasted open by a screech or a howl. I feel part of a world humming with life.

My paintings echo these rhythms. Drawing from early training in music and quiet hours in nature, I often ask, “How does this make me feel?” I think of the work as stories hidden in nature’s rhythms.

Mixed media artist Kathryn Shagas works to give form to the flow of visible and unseen rhythmic energies in nature. Originally from Montreal, Shagas studied classical piano from age four through 20, worked as an offset printer, pacifist magazine editor and graphic designer, traveled internationally by bicycle for a year and then headed a graphic design firm in Maryland and Maine before becoming a full-time artist. Her work has been exhibited nationally, most recently at Triangle Gallery/Rockland, Waterfall Arts, Maine Art Gallery/Wiscasset, Prince Street Gallery/NYC, Fountain Street Gallery/Boston, and UMVA venues. Shagas holds a BFA in design from Philadelphia College of Art.

Icy Stare, 7 x 7 in., acrylic on Yupo on panel, framed $300.00

Do You See? 33 x 25 in. with frame, acrylic, collage and drawing media on paper $2,100.00

Dream Within a Dream, 21 x27 in. with frame, acrylic and drawing media on Yupo on panel $1,850.00

What a Tangled Web We Weave, 21 x 27 in. with frame, acrylic and drawing media on Yupo on panel $1,850.00