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Arnold Sauther...retired art teacher and now full time artist

Celebrating Nature...an artist statement
 

Most of my recent paintings have been images celebrating nature's forms, colors, and patterns. Plants and insects, especially flowers, are my favorite subjects. I take photos and do sketches to determine how best to compose and interpret them. Often my ideas involve enlarging, abstracting, and symbolizing.

 

 I painted Existential Hollyhocks from many sketches I made at the August garden work day at Charlie and Karen Lamitie-King's for the Artist in the Garden Exhibit at Pendragon Theater. I wanted to show a progression in its growth, its bursting  energy, and the curving design of both the bud and the flower. I put the buds in the foreground, which is unexpected, giving the flower a secondary place.
Paths of a Poppy is an example of a personalized flower. It  includes symbols associated with a particular person. The content of the message can be serious, humorous. or matter of fact. Some might miss the inner meaning but could still appreciate the unique design and decorative effect of the image.   This is an example of a personalized flower. I painted this poppy for our dining room wall. The rendering is entitled Paths of a Poppy. Its white rim suggests paths in life, and the different stages of the flower depict the aging process. Within the center I put symbols for worship of God and nature. I have created several personalized flowers for family members. Each has turned out to be unique for the one who requested it.
Several of my paintings this year are surreal and imaginative in style emanating from my love of art history. Currently one in the display window at forartsake. It is a painting entitled Be Fruitful and is of a group of tomatoes. The large size of the tomatoes gives them a Daliesque appearance and expresses a statement about fertility in nature.  I painted this image in January 2005 and call it Cosmic Butterfly since the flower center looks similar to the sun and a galaxy. Those who see it like both the color and design. One of our grandchildren said he liked how the butterfly has  inside orange and outside gold. This large painting takes advantage of lots of space and light and was sold in May 2006 at forARTSake.

Photo Gallery One

Amaryllis

This painting is a tribute to 9-11 heroes. I used the blossoms of th eamaryllis to symbolize the twin towers, the use of red, white and blue to reflect the patriotic outpouring of sentiment and the deep blue sky of night to portray the reaching out to those here and what lies beyond in order to survive the terrible ordeal.

Columbine Tribute

This painting is a tribute to the victims of the 1999 school disaster at Columbine. I used parts of the flower to symbolize grieving and resurrection.

Tomatoes

This painting implies family and ties using a group of connected tomatoes plus a surreal stem that goes back into space and time.

Thistle Drawing

This is a preparatory sketch-a thumbnail-for a large acrylic painting that reveals the beauty and functionality of a thistle.

Flower Drawing

This is a dogwood linear sketch and composition emphasizing pattern. I purposefully omitted any use of color in order to get to the movement of the flower..

Paintbrush

This image is a closeup of the Hawk Weed or Devil's Paintbrush. I tried to capture its beauty and hint at myths surrounding it.

Gumtree Gothic

This painting is an enlarged view of the tree's seed or fruit that compares to the tracery involved in medieval windows and decorative motifs in architecture (even Scholastic Philosophy).

Daisy

I painted this daisy based on those I saw in our garden. It is a straight forward depiction but shows the grace and circular nature of this beautiful flower.

Wrecked Car

I painted this when I first started teaching. I have been asked many times to sell this painting it has sentimental value.