Art Show at Tin Roof Bakery Cafe All February

I have a solo art show starting Sunday at the Tin Roof Bakery & Cafe at 627 Broadway St #170, Chico, CA for the whole month of February! The Tin Roof is our favorite cafe in town -- for real, we're there almost every week. And we often really enjoy the art exhibits there. I'll be showing mostly my acrylic and mixed media (pastel and acrylic) paintings. If you live near Chico, come on by, grab a cup of coffee and a sandwich or pastry (the best in town) and see my art! (And yes, it will be for sale.)

"Winter Branches, Summer Soil", © 2019 by Sheryl Karas

I've been remiss. I finished this piece months ago but neglected to post it here. I did an earlier version of this as a purely digital creation. It's multiple image photography of the trees I can see outside my bedroom window in the light of a street lamp. I liked it but it never felt "finished" to me. I wanted to remove a few things, emphasize others. And I wanted to make it glow, the way I see it so many nights when those lights turn on. So I printed it large (36" x 36") and painted over it with metallic paint. The original is currently available directly through me. Prints and prints on canvas are available through Fine Art America.

Green Sage, Wild Grass Abstract Pastel Landscape

"Green Sage, Wild Grass", © 2017 Sheryl Karas

This was a study I did for a larger piece now hanging in the lobby of the Chico Breast Care Center. I was experimenting with techniques for creating a pastel painting that did not need to be framed under glass and this was the first one that succeeded. I tried out lots of types of marks and types of pastel in this piece, never meaning to present it for sale. Years later, I look at this and love the freedom and spontaneity in it, thinking it really does stand on its own. So I finished it and will eventually frame it (not under glass). In the meantime, prints and prints on canvas are available on Fine Arts America.

Okay, this is finished now. It's 12" x 12" on cradled panel. Then I mounted it on a second 16" x 16" cradled panel painted black. It's ready to hang without framing (although I suppose you could add a frame if want to, but no point in adding glass).

Garden at the Pond at Twilight

Garden at the Pond at Twilight, © 2017 Sheryl Karas

In this piece I've returned to my first love — pastels! But I do it differently than most because I wanted a way to present my work without glass and a frame. That meant a lot of of research and multiple experiments to come up with a solution. I'm not going to give away all of my secrets at the moment but several top coats of fixative and acrylic varnish are involved.

The scene is a garden featuring lavender in the foreground at the edge of a pond at twilight when the light comes in low to the ground from the side. It's what photographers call the "Golden Hour"—everything seems washed in shiny gold as the sun is just about to dip below the horizon. I snapped a reference photo to remind me of what the scene looked like and added fantasy details at home.

The original is available. It's 12" x 12" on cradled panel mounted on a second 16" x 16" cradled panel painted black. Prints and prints on canvas are available on Fine Art America.

Fantasy Queen Proteas and Orange Tulips, Painting in Acrylic

Fantasy Queen Proteas and Orange Roses, © Copyright 2017 by Sheryl Karas

Hot off the easel!!! The flowers in this are larger than life. . . because these flowers are for BIG healing! Giant Proteas, also known as King or Queen Proteas, are thought to impart healing throughout the chakra system (think: profound spiritual transformation). Roses always represent love but orange roses also represent optimism and creativity.  And isn't that what the world needs now? I know it makes me feel lifted up just looking at this. I hope it does the same for you. The original is available — contact me for details on price. It is 24" x 36," acrylic on canvas with 1 1/2" painted sides, ready to hang. Prints and prints on canvas are available on Fine Art America.

Freedom at the Window, Mixed Media Painting

Freedom at the Window, © 2017 Sheryl Karas

I realized today as I was entering this piece into a juried show that I never posted it here online. This is the first painting I did after a very long time of doing nothing but abstract photography. It's actually a mixed media piece. The photograph on the wall is one of my photographs. The wallpaper on the wall the photo is hanging on was created digitally by me in Photoshop. The rest is acrylic and I added acrylic glazes over the photography bits to make them blend in better. I hate the way photography mixed into a painting looks when it is not integrated in such a way as to make it hold together as one piece. I'd rather my viewers not be distracted by the fact that I pasted a photograph in. The piece might represent different things to different people. For me it's an acknowledgment that my desire to have a full-time job in order to be able to live in a comfortable home might also lead to me feeling a bit empty. "Freedom" beckons at the window: play a little, have more fun!

The original 30" x 30" piece on cradled panel is currently available—contact me at right for info. Prints and prints on canvas are available on Fine Art America.

When a Vase of Flowers is a Willful Act of Resistance

"A Willful Act of Resistance", © 2017 Sheryl Karas

SOLD !! When times are hard or scary, painting a vase of flowers is "A Willful Act of Resistance." So that's what this is called. Acrylic on stretched canvas, 24" x 36" with 2" painted edges. Prints and prints on canvas are available on Fine Art America.

Lover's Nest, Acrylic Painting by Sheryl Karas

Lovers Nest, © 2017 by Sheryl Karas

I'm getting ready to varnish this painting, something fun to take my mind off of politics and other distressing things. It's 40" x 30", acrylic on canvas. A return (or at least a revisiting) of an earlier more illustrative style of mine. My last three paintings have been in this style. I'm jockeying between 2-3 different styles of work right now, against all advice from the art gallery and art school critics in my head. Gotta do what I want to do these days. Bright and colorful, happy subject matter, an antidote to the troubles of the world.

This is one I'm keeping for my private collection, but prints and prints on canvas are available on Fine Art America.

They Came with Little But Their Hopes and Dreams - New Painting by Sheryl Karas

"They Came with Little But Their Hopes and Dreams" © 2017 Sheryl Karas

"They Came With Little More Than Their Hopes and Dreams." The latest painting I've been working on. Yes, it's a political piece—it's hard to think about anything but politics in the time of Trump! And, of course, it is about immigrants with "head scarves" but I wanted to make the point that this isn't about Muslims! So many female immigrants from so many different cultures have come to this country wearing kerchiefs on their heads—my Jewish grandmother, escaping the pogroms in Russia at the turn of last century, most likely included. The magenta energy lines are winds of change. Blackbirds (in some culture, I forget which one) were thought to offer protection on a difficult journey. Baby birds also represent pure potential—the potential to fly, for example, if they are cared for while they are young. I also realize that the people are made to look like wooden marionettes on some level. I kept attempting to change this—I would make the eyes smaller, make the faces more classically proportional (realistic) and then change it back! Same thing with the bird. In the end I decided that my psyche was wishing to express the "puppets on the world stage" aspect of refuge crises. They're real people—one is deliberately looking straight at you—who have been made into symbols for political gain. 

This piece is available. It is 24" x 30"  acrylic on canvas.

New Work: The Pendulum Swung Off the Clock

The Pendulum Swung Clear Off the Clock, © 2017 Sheryl Karas

The pendulum swung clear off the clock. . . and for a period of time nothing else seemed to matter. So I decided to paint about it. I'm putting a prayer on the back: "May everyone beneath their vine and fig tree be at peace and unafraid."

This is a mixed media painting, mostly acrylic, a little collage, a little pastel. It is 24" x 30" and has painted sides. Contact me if you're interested.

Wild Ride, Mixed Media Painting

Wild Ride, © 2015 Sheryl Karas

When I was a kid I used to go to Paragon Amusement Park at Nantasket Beach in Massachusetts all summer long. My cousin worked there and would get us free tickets for a few rides each. I loved it and my favorite ride was the Flying Horses. When I lived in Santa Cruz, CA, they also had a great amusement park, The Boardwalk, and my favorite ride there was the old antique Looff Carousel.

I brought my camera one day and there were these two women and a small child going on his first ride who were having such a great time. The women, in particular, were shrieking with laughter. I imagine it had been a long time since they had ridden the carousel. I thought of wild horses being set free, at least for the length of the ride, so I put them in the background of this painting at the bottom.

The original painting is currently available, 30" x 30" on cradled panel with painted sides. It is pastel and acrylic, made with a technique I innovated so the pastel does not need to be under glass. Prints on stretched canvas are available in my Etsy shop.

Buddha, Mixed Media Painting

Buddha, © 2012 Sheryl Karas

This was my first attempt at combining digital and conventional painting techniques. I was inspired by a rusting copper garden Buddha I saw in the back garden of an antique store and by fabric patterns I like to use in quilt-making. Digital elements are collaged into this painting, some act as an underpainting, but conventional painting is what makes it all work.

The original painting hangs in my living room. You MIGHT be able to get me to part with it (contact me using the form on the right side of this page). It is acrylic collage on canvas, 24" x 30". Prints on stretched canvas are available in my Etsy shop.

Portrait of Paul, Mixed Media Painting

Paul, © 2012 Sheryl Karas

I've been experimenting with combining digital photography and more conventional painting in one piece. In this painting I have worked with a photograph I took of my partner Paul in Photoshop and then cut out and collaged the print into a painting. The background and the shirt is painted. I also painted what I hoped might read as reflections of the color in the background onto his face, hair and beard. There are both positives and negatives for me in this approach as an artist. It freed me to be as wild as I wanted to be with the background and to experiment with a variety of techniques using my photograph as an underpainting. On the downside, cutting the face out and collaging it into the painting created technical dilemmas I did not anticipate. It required multiple attempts to get something I was ultimately satisfied with.

This piece is not for sale.

Talia, Mixed Media Painting

Talia, © 2012 Sheryl Karas

My partner Paul and I did a number of photo shoots with models in the Chico area and Talia was one of our favorites. She had a really creative way of combining old-fashioned charm with hip sensibilities. She showed up to this photo shoot with red streaked hair, tatoos and a nose ring wearing a lace shirt and a contemplative expression. I chose to paint her using a similar mix of old-fashioned and contemporary techniques: acrylic painting, digital photography, collage and potato printing. I also liked mixing Renaissance-like lighting, impressionist brushwork for the shirt, and modern urban flair in the background and color choices.

The original mixed media painting is ready to hang on reinforced canvas and is 24" by 30." It is currently still available.

Epigenetic History, Mixed Media Painting

Epigenetic History, © 2015 Sheryl Karas

Epigenetic refers to the altering of DNA that is carried from trauma your ancestors experienced. I rarely go dark in my artwork in terms of emotional content but sometimes that's just the truth. At the time I painted this I was very frustrated and upset about my art career and the choices I could see available to me for a career of any sort. So I started this painting but then put it aside. Then my father died and I had a dream about his heritage that was affecting me -- a similar cultural heritage to the artist Marc Chagall who is also an influence in this work. He also rarely went dark in his paintings . . . but sometimes he did. So I continued. I was never happy with it though. So I took a photo, scanned it into my computer and made alterations and additions in Photoshop.

The original painting is gone but framed or unframed prints or prints on canvas or metal are available.

Lady Slippers on the Path, Acrylic Painting

Lady Slippers on the Path, © 2014 Sheryl Karas

SOLD

Follow the Yellow Brick Road to your Higher callings! I make flower essence aromatherapy products for emotional and spiritual well-being and have studied the use of flowering plants for many years. Lady Slippers are used for integrating spiritual purpose with daily work and for helping a person use that purpose to walk their path with integrity. The light shines down in this painting from all directions to indicate spiritual light. The Lady Slippers are super-sized and the trees in the foreground are evergreen, probably some kind of Redwood (which has to do with standing tall and strong).

The original painting was sold and hangs in the lobby of the Chico Breast Care Center where I hope it gives upliftment to all the patients who go there. Prints on stretched canvas are available in my Etsy shop.

Rebirth (Red Sand, Green Sage), Mixed Media, Acrylic and Pastel

Rebirth, © 2012 Sheryl Karas

This is inspired by Sagebrush at sunset in the red sand desert, blowing this way and that in the wind. I call it "Rebirth" for two reasons. One, Sagebrush is the first plant to reclaim the desert after it has been devastated by ranchers ripping out all the Juniper trees to graze cattle. But also, I think that rebirth can often be a chaotic process as you determine (or discover) what from your old life does not apply anymore and which way you might want to go next.

In this piece I was innovating a way to mix drawing with pastel and painting with acrylic and present it without glass. I used multiple layers of spray casein fixative and then several layers of acrylic medium and varnish. It is painted on canvas that was applied to cradled panel painted black.

SOLD!!!   Prints and prints on canvas are available on Fine Art America.

Fantasy Protea, Acrylic Painting

Fantasy Protea, © 2014 Sheryl Karas

I've painted this protea more than once, the first time small in pastel pencil and this time in acrylic. I wanted to achieve the effects I get in pastel using paint, however, so I used my fingers to apply and blend the paint instead of brushes.

The original is available. It is 20" x 20," acrylic on canvas.

Manzanita in Autumn

Manzanita in Autumn, © Sheryl Karas

One of my first paintings! I have a fascination with tree branches against the sky and Manzanita trees have a strange way of twisting and turning like snakes as they do so. The smooth reddish bark is also a feature of this tree that tends to capture my attention.

The original painting is 36" x 36" acrylic on canvas and is available for sale.

No Time Like the Present, Acrylic Painting

No Time Like the Present, © 2014 Sheryl Karas

My current home of Chico, CA is a small town-like city surrounded by almond orchards. It's very pleasant and friendly but when I painted this painting I was feeling homesick for Santa Cruz, CA, where I used to live. The clock is a reference to the clock tower in Santa Cruz but it is on a Chico-like house to remind me to be here now. I challenged myself to use bold colors of red, yellow, teal green and purple. I was inspired by the Fauves and pop art artists like Andy Warhol and Peter Max.

The original acrylic painting on canvas is 18" x 24" and is currently available for sale.