Sarah Stivers

The Mysterious Worlds paintings are made with black-and-white acrylic paints on canvas and wooden panels. I used many layers of glaze to give the paintings depth and create their shiny surfaces. I used carbon black and titanium white paint right out of the bottle. I mixed in a few other pigments, but it’s mostly a black-and-white color palette. Sometimes, when we are learning how to paint, artists are told not to use all-black or all-white paint right out of the bottle because it can look eerie. Painting without relying on color was challenging, and it put more focus on shape, stillness, and movement.

The scenes in the paintings are inspired by places throughout the Pacific Northwest, like the Deschutes River, the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, the rolling hills of Eastern Oregon, the Willamette National Forrest, and Sauvie Island.

The work is shaped by spirals, contrast, and a little bit of unpredictable movement of the paint. Permanence is an illusion. Our world is perpetually changing, shifting, and taking new forms. Things like rocks and mountains that seem like they will never change, but they will eventually break down and become something different. Seismic activity, the flow of water, and forest fires transform landscapes. Humans reshape the places they live through countless, everyday actions.

I hope that you can take a moment to sit with the Mysterious Worlds Paintings and reflect on how you are a part of the cycles of nature.

to purchase contact redecafegallery@gmail.com

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