Evelyn Peters
Acrylic Artist — Graphic Designer — Painter of Americana and Legends of the West
Artist's Statement
The desire to create a work of art and the need to express myself – those feelings are always with me. To be able to share visually my thoughts about a time, a place or a thing – that is what motivates my work. If a moment of enrichment in another’s life is the result, then my effort has been rewarded.
To record all the ideas in my mind and bring to reality those "dream" works awaiting completion, I fear is impossible. In addition, new ideas are fed to me by life’s daily input, thus there is a never-ending stream of inspiration. Exploring new ways to express my feelings is a continuing process. As with most artists, the work seems to evolve under my fingers as I become one with the painting. All of my background and experience is drawn upon, whether it be the scientific training, the love of the wilderness and wildlife, the boating and the sea, the hunting, the trapping, the fishing, the living among the Indians in my youth, or the years working with horses and other aspects of ranch and farm life.
Coming from an artistically-inclined family, I was encouraged as a child growing up in Alaska in my drawing and painting endeavors. My mother, a nurse by profession and a sculptress on the side, gave me reams of blank paper and drawing materials instead of coloring books as a child. Even to this day, a blank piece of paper or blank canvas is an irresistible challenge. In addition, my mother’s best friend was a Sorbonne-trained painter, Thelma Hunt Gaikema, whose work and teachings, as well as those of Sydney Laurence, Alaska’s Master Painter, were my guiding lights. I cannot remember when I didn’t make "pictures."
At this point in time, my main involvement in painting is with the use of multiple glazes over textured surfaces with the addition of sponge work to give a rich realism to the work. Acrylic is the perfect medium for this type of work. My statements are strong, almost photographic, because of the way I "see" the subject. I want a viewer to enjoy the work from close up as well as from a distance, and sometimes this can be hard to achieve and still remain painterly.
More and more as well, I am finding ways to express myself in the computer, using it as a tool to "paint" free-hand ideas and thoughts. I refer to this work as digital acrylic. The concept is done digitally and then printed with acrylic inks in an archival manner on paper or canvas.
Collectors tell me that my paintings seem to improve with age; the colors seem to become richer and glowing. If this is so, then I am truly blessed for then I have done what I set out to accomplish – the creation of a moment in time for others to enjoy.
Glorieta, NM, 2011