January 2 to 31
Sigel Gallery at Falmouth Art Center
From the Artist: My abstract paintings start as a feeling. Each feeling lives in my sketchbook on a page by itself, often represented only as a simple mark or grouping of small marks. Sometimes I write, but always backwards. In this way I give the feeling room to exist truthfully, and in some cases, to leave me.
I make these marks every morning in an effort to claim the day and reflect on or release a feeling. I leave the book open as part of the ritual.
Sometimes the feeling stays with me long enough to become a thought, and eventually a painting. The painting is a way for the thought to have a louder voice. The process of creating the painting becomes a chance for the original feeling or thought to become something else. . . or not.
About The Artist: Karyn Phares is a lifelong resident of Falmouth, working as an artist and local art teacher. Living on Cape Cod has provided a lifetime of inspirational memories and scenery that can often be seen in her artwork, much of which is inspired by her mother’s gardens and local areas that she frequents. Her work specializes but is not limited to florals, landscapes and abstract works.
The Journey: I have only ever thought of being an artist. But it has been a crooked path. When I was younger, I did not have the courage to pursue art as a career. I listened to people who cautioned me with words like “You don’t want to be a starving artist.” They might have been right, I don’t produce well under pressure and I am not one to paint what I think will sell. It seems pointless to paint or create if I am not doing it for the pure joy of it.
My earliest memories of art making are when I used to draw outside during recess in elementary school. My favorite subject was art….and penmanship. I used to draw most days at home as well. But I fell away from art making in my high school years, I was good at art, but every other class was difficult for me. I’m pretty sure the only reason I got into the University of Massachusetts in Amherst was because my mother discovered the Home Economics department needed to fill enrollment. She helped me apply as a Home Economics major and I got in.
I had a wonderful time at UMASS and did not attend any classes in my major after failing statistics. Instead, I took every art class possible. I was finally approached by the head of the Art department who asked me what my plan was. I said I didn’t know, I just wanted to take art classes. He told me I should go to Massachusetts College of Art and he helped me put together a portfolio. To my surprise, I got in. Unfortunately, I majored in graphic design, because I thought it might be a way to “feed myself.”I hated graphic design and I was terrible at it. I wanted to paint. So, during my first year at MASSART, I enrolled in a painting elective. The teacher was terrifying and I left class before it was over, never to return. I graduated with a BFA in graphic design and stopped making art for almost ten years while I worked at jobs to pay rent, got married and had children.
Over the years, I would buy all manner of paint, brushes and other art supplies, but never use them because I thought I didn’t know how or thought I was somehow unworthy. I dabbled in my sketchbook until an artist friend said to me “GET OUT OF YOUR SKETCHBOOK!” I finally realized the only thing standing between me and my art making was me. So I took my friend’s advice and since then, I have been painting without a care for anything but what pleases me. It’s wonderful.
For inquiries or to see more of Karyn’s work:
info@karynphares.com , www.karynphares.com , @karynpharesart (Instagram)
