VIVIAN THIERFELDER, Nov 18-Dec 2, 2005, Mayberry Fine Art, Winnipeg

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"Cantaloupe"

Vivian Thierfelder, "Cantaloupe," 2003, watercolour, 13" x 13".

VIVIAN THIERFELDER

Mayberry Fine Art, Winnipeg

Nov 18-Dec 2, 2005

By Lee Bale

From her rural studio just outside Edmonton, painting in the summertime light, Vivian Thierfelder finds the whole of the universe in nature’s most minute details. A graduate of the University of Alberta, Thierfelder has been painting for over 30 years with a resolutely fixed focus. Early on she found a passion for an intense realism, noticing and studying the small foreground details of every scene.

No surprise, prior to committing to full-time painting, Thierfelder worked on diorama and exhibit design for the Provincial Museum of Alberta. Painting initially in oils and acrylics, she describes finding a home with the vibrancy of watercolour and the process of revealing the white paper. Today she works exclusively in this medium and produces small- to medium-scale paintings which explore the physical world through challenging and complex compositions and elaborate still lifes. A love of science is revealed in themes ranging from light refracted through water, water drops reflected on flower petals, and the experience of soft green light filtered through leaves. Her painting celebrates the joy of colour and a connection to nature.

The creative process begins with meticulous research and set ups where the subject is explored through photographs and developed through selection; picking and choosing objects, backgrounds, fabrics and a multitude of light and shadow combinations. It is like a passacaglia, the musical equivalent of exploring a theme through subtle variations. Here the artist is maestro, pulling all the strings and controlling totally this little slice of the world for the duration of the work coming into existence.

Represented by: Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver, BC, and Edmonton, AB; The Gallery at Chateau Whistler, Whistler, BC; The Gallery at Jasper Park Lodge, Jasper, AB; Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB; Mayberry Fine Art, Winnipeg, MB.