Economic Apocalypse
Winter Pin Oak
Winter Sycamore
Surreal Cheetah
Artist Statement: Winter Sycamore
Winter Sycamore is an oil painting on canvas. With my background in science and history, I find the changes to the environment of great importance. Living in a rural area, I see farmland being created but also resorting back to its more natural state. In this painting, which is from a scene I photographed in Nottoway County, an old field is being reclaimed by broom straw, one of the first plants seen in fields left untended. Interestingly, the sycamore tree seems too young to have been left as a shade tree in the field when first created and yet too old to have recently appeared. It remains something of a mystery. Visually, I found its white bark striking in its contrast to the dark trees behind it.
Artist Statement: Economic Apocalypse
Economic Apocalypse is a small lithograph print at 4 x 6 inches, originally designed to be part of a print exchange in the size of postcards. The concept for this piece was based on the print exchang’s theme of Apocalypse. To execute this assignment, I researched the varied meanings of Apocalypse and decided to focus on the world’s recent economic disaster. I wanted to represent all ages affected by economic hardships and decided to use a doll for children and ruined brick walls and smoke stacks for the workers. The yellow of the sky seemed a fitting color for the theme in its unhealthy hue.
Artist Statement: Winter Pin Oak
Winter Pin Oak is a 24 x 18 inch lithograph. The work came from a watercolor I was executing that involved a portion of this tree. This tree is so grand that I felt it deserved to be rendered in its entirety as best as my ability allowed. I also wanted to see it done in a line, mark making technique. I spent my early childhood on the property shared by this tree. It is reported to be the oldest tree in Powhatan County, which in turn makes it one of the oldest in Virginia. The element of time is inescapable. This tree has seen farms and houses come and go, as well as the Civil War.
Artist Statement: Surreal Cheetah
This print is a monotype lithograph printed on BFK paper measuring 8.75 x 11 inches. The concept for the piece stemmed from a project where the student was to research a printmaker. I chose Salvador Dali for my artist. While much more famous for his paintings, he did make many prints and excelled in several processes. I have always enjoyed his use of colors in his works. The way he depicted his animals in their elongated forms with knobby joints intrigued me. For this artist inspired print, I chose to work with some of his typical colors and rendered a cheetah, a sinewy, lanky cat, in a style similar to Dali’s elongated animal forms.
Artist Biography
Kristin MacQuarrie earned a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries from Virginia Tech and a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of North Florida. She began her formal art education at Florida State College where she received a purchase award and earned another purchase award at J. Sergeant Reynolds Community College. Kristin is in the Fine Arts program at Longwood University with a concentration in Graphic Design.