Aurora Ave is a native New Yorker who gained inspiration from visiting the great museums. She is an oil painter who loves to capture people in motion and believes that the subject is the most important part of her work. You can see her art at Village Arts Framing & Gallery.
Tell us about your artwork. What inspires you?
As long as I can remember, I’ve been “looking/seeing/focusing” my sight on people. As a native New Yorker, I was fortunate to have many of the world’s great museums at my disposal. Yet, what was most important was the energy and unexpected inspiration that comes from a walk down any Manhattan street.
Tell us about your journey as an artist. What first sparked your interest?
Drawing has been my lifelong companion and the foundation of my figurative painting. I was fascinated by faces of all kinds and there were tons of them on subway cars, Central Park benches – and people in motion, boys running, girls in latest fashions showing off, elderly ladies gesturing and gossiping. And those faces that I created in my head. I studied classical life drawing at the National Academy of Art in NYC for two years and after-work studio art classes all over the city.
Tell us about your art on display; what inspired it, and what mediums were used?
I use water-soluble oil paint, which has all properties/features of oil paint, except it allows brushes to be cleaned with plain water. I paint on traditional or gallery-wrapped canvas.
My procedure is simple: I quickly capture the rhythm and composition of subject matter. My palette tends to be primary colors in high key applied in a flat manner.
The subject is the most important element of my work. I’m after painting an atmosphere in which the story takes place that’s sophisticated, yet informal. My style can be referred to as Figurative Realism, sometimes with a dash of Pop Art. I’m aware of a current movement to bring back portraiture, but in a casual manner. A few pieces on my wall at Village Arts, i.e. “Boy with Sunflowers,” “Stacey – Girl Reading” are my attempts to take part in the modern portraiture genre.
What is your artistic process like?
I converted a guest bedroom into a studio with loads of treasured art books and magazines for reference and pure enjoyment, though I find myself using Google way too much now! I paint any hours of the day that suits my energy level and, as oil paints dry very slowly, I can alter/change or delete anything I did earlier.
I love this quote: “Art is the only way to run away without leaving home.” – Twyla Tharp, American choreographer.
What do you like best about what you do?
The best is to look at what you just did and slowly realize that you finally got “IT” right. Something that was alluding you for years, like reaching a plateau – a small plateau but a new one. People are so fascinating to me that I prefer to present them as who they are, to capture their likeness on canvas. I choose to paint people who make their presence felt, who have attitude, sometimes even eccentricity.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I go to bed at midnight, so I get up around 10 a.m., calls/texts, lunch while reading, start painting at 1 p.m. ’til dinner at 7 p.m., painting-related research, TV (YouTube, etc.)
