Red, White and Black I (below, left; oil, 16x20) and Hanging Eggs (at right; oil, 17x24)

my mind is free to concentrate on the inner meaning I wish to convey.”

Kristofik begins each painting with a small pencil sketch followed by a grisaille (monochromatic painting, usually in shades of gray), using raw umber and turpentine. Once that’s dry, in a rather unorthodox approach using oils straight from the tube (no medium), she paints starting from the left and working on specific items, rather than tackling the entire canvas at each session.

“Depending on the complexity, I usually work on
two or three objects that I can finish in one day,” she
says. If not, I’ll re-address them after the passages dry
by glazing or scumbling and,
in both cases, adding a mix-
ture of turpentine and stand
oil to the paint.”

For rendering shadows, which she admits can sometimes be problematic, Kristofik achieves depth and luminosity by admixing hints of ochre or reddish color to the main shadow mix. She attends to the foreground and the background only after all items are completed and, once the canvas is dry to the touch, applies a thin coat of retouch varnish: “Retouch restores the original brilliance to the colors and gives a true reading so that I can make any needed corrections. After six months, I give the piece a final varnish of

Winsor & Newton Conserv-Art—three parts matte to one part gloss.”

Working in this way requires a clear vision of how the finished painting will look; thus, the underpainting is a necessity. Kristofik interprets her methodical approach as time well spent in getting to understand a subject’s subtleties: “I feel I must render each object’s unique characteristics realistically, giving it life— sensuality at times—even elevating it to a loftier position than it occupies in reality.”

Preferring to paint from life, when setting up her arrangements, she pays close attention to the way light falls on the props, as evidenced in Red, White and Black I (at left), a tranquil painting with strong abstract qualities that, in the artist’s eyes, takes the viewer on a joyous trip of undulating darks and lights. “ Portraying an object’s light and dark qualities and important midvalues are what I find most challenging,” she comments. “I strive to paint realistically—yet with a soft, spiritual quality—concentrating on beauty, color and shape. And while my subjects are mundane household items, I’m always pleasantly surprised when they become larger than life—almost monumental.”

First inspired to paint by childhood trips to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Carolou Kristofik always loved creating art. After high school she worked a daytime office job and by night took the Famous Artists Correspondence Course. After half-hearted attempts in other careers, she finally enrolled at the Art Students League and at Brooklyn Museum Art School. She has accumulated countless awards and mentions of merit at exhibitions in Cooperstown, Schenectady, Cobleskill, Albany, Canajoharie and New York City, as well as in Connecticut and Rhode Island. The artist is represented by Carrie Haddad Gallery ( www.carriehaddadgallery.com) and Riverfront Studios ( www.riverfront-studios.com).

November 2008 ■ www.artistsmagazine.com