by | Nov 25, 2017 | blog
In efforts to break free of drawing whats safe I am currently drawing my first full nude work to be sold at Black Book Gallery, located in Denver, CO.
I knew I wanted to push myself to grow as an artist and a conceptually driven person. It was through recognizing my lack of growth that I decided to go for it. I was ready to draw a full nude to add in this body of work, which was a very exhilarating point to come to for me. I referenced a photo studio mate, Joe Friend took of a model. He showed me this reference he photographed and I was stunned. The model had no tattoos, piercings so it was like staring from a blank canvas which gets me all too stoked to begin the real imaginative part.
Throughout the years building my art career, I can honestly say I played it safe. I understood what people wouldn’t get offended by and told myself to go with those styles. I told myself NOT to push boundaries because it could cause me to lose some of my already build clientele. If these nudes offend anyone, I am sorry ahead of time and respect if you do not agree. Creating this and drawing the full figure feels like the missing piece to my work, I can’t turn back.
I want to create strong female portraits, from these amazing women I am selecting to reference photographs of. (mostly captured by me, in the studio) I’m starving to communicate that feeling of being alive. WE DO NOT SURVIVE by just “trying” to make it by and do okay. We survive by what fills us with passion, outrage, sadness, love, bliss and above all else HOW WE CONNECT TO ONE ANOTHER. Life is about feeling alive, feeling your heart race, tears shed, uncontrollable laughter you can’t hold in and love for one another. Our emotions are a GIFT, every single one of them. The good does not get appreciated or even seen without having known the ugliness.
These works MUST have a darkness to them, a sense of depth that is meant to keep the viewer wondering. To be honest it keeps me wondering too. Just like any human, we all have secrets, questions of life, fears of the unknown, etc. and so does this body of work. The tattoos are a entity of the universe wrapping around the figure like an unshakable force. There is beauty to it while also expressing a level of destruction and terror. Our surroundings, our experiences and our interactions become part of us. We eventually wear these without any awareness in doing so. Unfolding at any given moment we give ourselves away. Our vulnerabilities are hidden, but every so often they sneak out like a branch growing on a tree, watching the leaves mature and then eventually fall.
I am not writer by any means. I am an only an artist. Through creating I feel there is a level of explanation I must share to experience the work on a deeper level.
Thank you for all the continued support and interest in what I do. SO much love to all of you, I wouldn’t be here without you!
Rashelle Stetman
by | Nov 3, 2017 | blog
This new work I am making is pushing the boundaries of realism. I want some areas to communicate photo- realistic qualities while others communicate a flat vagueness to them.
I am striving to have my viewers have to use their imagination to make up the forms that are left unfinished. It is not a matter of me as the artist not being able to draw it, but rather a forced indication that it is there and left up to the viewer to see what they want.
I spend so much time shading these forms within a portrait and feel they would be stronger if I left some parts more unfinished and abstracted. I am planning on leaving the hand stark white while the rest of the image remains rendered in full. I am excited to see what kind of response I get from this change I am trying to implement.
Thoughts?
by | Nov 3, 2017 | Uncategorized
The one response when people see me work in person that I hear often is “I didn’t know your work was that big”.
I am now making a better effort to communicate the size of these works I am creating on all social medias. This piece is my latest work FOR SALE NOW under the “Fine Art” section.
Check it out, contact me for any questions or inquiries!
Thanks!
by | Nov 3, 2017 | blog
This commission work from my new client has been so fun to create. I was given a photograph to reference of my clients mother from a “flash-dance” glamour shoot.
The client asked to have the work drawn onto wood panel, the rest was free range for me. I decided to keep the background dark adding layers of dark stain to the wood around the figure. I would sand parts away to show a few hints of the wood grain coming through. This work is 24×30 in, so pretty large scale for a portrait. It was really inspiring to work at this size, recently most of my pieces have been smaller works around 14×17 in.
This was about 50 hours into this piece. Wait till you see the finished product!
Get your own custom piece today! Contact me under the “contact” tab or shoot me an email @ www.rashellestetman.com
by | Nov 3, 2017 | blog
So much creative energy in our studio. Joe Friend, one of the photographers in the studio took this photo of all of us in action.
Joining a collaborative studio space to create in has really improved the level at which I am working. I have four other artists willing to give advice and voice criticism on my work while in progress. It pushes me to take a step back and really work on building with each piece I create.
As all of us Denver Artists in the studio throw our headphones on and get in our own zone, we take time to talk with each other on how our work can get stronger. We challenge each other, bringing new ideas and thoughts to the table that otherwise wouldn’t be communicated if not for this space we all share.
I have watched my work grow and evolve while inhibiting this space. It has become a sanctuary for me where I have support and strong energy around me to keep hustling and keep pushing to achieve more.
