Trish Klenow Portfolio

Witness

This collection of landscapes extends from my back door, to Michigan, to Maine, Northern Ireland, and to the mountains of North Carolina. All of them are special places; lucious places teeming with life, color, and usually water. It’s entitled Witness because I have been to all of them hiking and reflecting. Hopefully my love of the natural world comes through. This work is devoid of figures. I wanted to capture them untroubled and undisturbed. In the past some of my landscape settings have changed due to construction or natural disasters, painting landscapes preserves these places in time.

The vision for Midnight Garden is to evoke a private, mysterious, wild, and occasionally poisonous garden started by witches in the American south. Through these oil paintings, the viewer will experience the wonder of local flora and fauna in the darkest of North Carolina forests and yards and reflect on systems of belief and spirituality like Tarot Reading. The archetypal images like the Empress, the Fool, and the Hierophant, flowers and Fauna, serve to guide viewers to reflect on their personal journeys and to think about their futures. Viewers will experience “ritual darkness” cleansed and ready to face an ever changing and frightening world. It explores the idea of what we do in anxious times and how we turn to ritual to find comfort and to discover a sense of what may happen in our future.This work was done as part of a collaboration with photographer Slater Mapp; staging models and brainstorming together.

This series is on display in its entirety along with Slater Mapp’s photographic work at Cary Arts Center until May 24th 2024

Birch Dreams
My work is evocative of Dylan Thomas’ poem The Force that Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower. I am inspired by nature and narrative. The oil paintings are allegorical and recall my childhood which was spent in the remote area of upper Michigan. I have strong memories of haunting quiet forests full of bright near-glowing birch trees. After migrating to the south (Texas for many years and now North Carolina) I still recall the eerie beauty and contrast in the white forests. The series Birch Dreams represents an escape into imaginary worlds, a blending of real and surreal. The paintings show figures and animals connected to their landscapes. These figurative works are a reflection of a need to stay connected to a rural landscape while living in an urban one.

Seasons is a series of paintings inspired by the forces of nature.  Regardless of how the human race evolves technologically, economically, spiritually, and socially; nature and the seasons dictate our actions. What we do, how we dress, where we go follows the cycles of nature.  I lived in Houston, TX for 15 years during which time I witnessed tropical storm Allison and more recently hurricane Ike bring Houston to its knees.  This experience gives one a sharp perspective and respect for the power of mothernature.

The paintings are done in oils, they show figures literally connected to their landscapes. Grass and weeds curl around legs, hair intertwines in branches, and rain dissolves a cheek. The paintings range from tiny intimate pieces no larger than 5”x5” to life-size reclining figures. Each slightly surreal painting evokes the mood of a season; the quiet sleep of winter, the joy and color of spring, the languid sweat of summer, and the inspiring change of autumn.  I painted a dozen winter paintings during the 2011 summer drought.  I wanted to cool myself artistically as well as physically. Having grown up in a small town in the Midwest, a part of me pined for the change of seasons.  These works are a reflection of a need to stay connected to a rural landscape while living in an urban one.

My series Bedtime stories is an artistic narrative body of work driven by The Brothers Grimm Fairytales.  I illustrate well-known works like Snow White alongside the obscure whimsical morality tales like in The Fox and the Geese.  I am inspired by the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales because they often reveal a twisted moral compass; kind sweet maidens allow their hands to be cut off merely because their fathers wish it so.  Proud parents are cursed for years because of one misstep.  It is difficult to discern the lessons we are meant to glean from many of the odd tales.  We shared stories as soon as we gained the ability to talk. The desire to dream and escape into a fantastic altered reality is as important now as it was during the Dark Ages.  We are connected by timeless tales, drawn into the mysterious unknown. 

Artist Statement

In the series; Dear, Deer; urban settings are visited by frightened deer; expressing an obvious environmental commentary. There is a narrative quality to these works which provides another layer of meaning for the viewer.  These paintings are tales of survival; an attempt to find balance between urban and rural living.  These storybook paintings illustrate contemporary environmental fables.

  I grew up in a small town in the Midwest, and then lived in Houston, TX for half my life, before finally settling in North Carolina.  My artwork often reflects on my childhood, providing a much needed peace and perspective in which to deal with urban living. In spite of over a dozen years of city living, nature and the accompanying inner calm, remain strong forces in my artwork.

I paint exclusively with oils. I find the most satisfaction by working in a representational style, typically with portraits, figures, and occasionally animals. Color and light are important components in my work. By using lucid, brighter-than-life hues and dramatic lighting, color becomes the language to convey the moods of my models. The juxtaposition of quiet solitary figures and loud colors demonstrates a peaceful contrast to the chaos of daily life. 

- T. Klenow

Deconstruction Books are a form of sketch-booking that involves pre-existing published books. Some of the content is removed, and some is incorporated into new work. All rights reserved.