Paula Swaydan Grebel

medium: painting

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African Violet 2006 Painting	Graveyard 2006 Painting	Cloud Cover 2006 Painting
Laguna Study 2006 Painting	Gathering 2006 Painting	Stance 2006 Painting
Egg Harbor 2006 Painting	Blue Sky 2006 Painting	Field, Sky, Trees 2006 Painting
Mixed Fruit 2006 Painting

Contact information
N6639 Riverview Rd.
Plymouth, WI 53073
Phone Number: 920-838-1351
Email Address: swaydangrebel@yahoo.com

Artist statement
Oil paints are my medium of choice. What I enjoy are their texture and physical qualities. I apply the paint using a brush, then tend to wipe and smear with various tools. What I am trying to do is connect my shapes of value, to push and pull my design. The result is hopefully atmosphere, thick and thin variety, and an expression of time.

My style is expressive. My art instructor at California State University-Long Beach, John Lincoln, was most influential on molding my artistic tastes. He introduced me to artists I continue to admire. There is also the influence of Fairfield Porter. This Harvard graduate let his painting dictate the results. I admire him for that; he found inspiration in objects and scenes of his everyday surroundings. He also looked for value shapes, which dissolved one into another, something I find exciting.

There is not a deliberate narrative in my work. I enjoy the outdoors and paint that which excites me at that moment. I do not like to plan my way prior painting for it takes the fun out of it. I prefer to "struggle" on the canvas. So for me "enlarging the view" meant being able to see more.

I hope that my work achieves a sense of the "here and now," not a rendered and detailed pretty picture. What I hope to achieve in my artwork is the essence of the moment, joy and adventure.

Biography
Paula Swaydan Grebel graduated from California State University in Long Beach with a bachelor of fine arts degree. There, she was able to study under renowned Los Angeles artist John Lincoln. She moved to Wisconsin in 1995 and found the bucolic countryside a perfect outlet for plein aire painting. Her compositional skills and mastery of color values have enabled her to win Best of Show at the prestigious Cedarburg, Wis., Plein Aire Contest as well as other key contests in the Midwest. She has also won awards for her work such as first place at both the 2001 Kansas Art Show at the Dog Show and the Artist Magazine 1999 art competition.

Her work is owned nationally in private and institutional collections. She has studied under such leading artists as Dan Gerhartz, Ken Auster, George Strickland and Peggy Kroll-Roberts.

Galleries representing Swaydan Grebel's work include Gallery HB in California (714-845-4835); Two Fish Gallery, Wisconsin (920-876-3192); and Brick Gallery, Mississippi (662-902-6748).