International Prize Winners

Grand Prize is a four-page editorial feature in American Art Collector magazine

All the Prize Winners in International Artist magazine Challenge No. 118, Abstract/ Experimental Art

Energy and Emotion

Abstract artist Jen Sterling describes her artwork as “bold, colorful, inspiring, energetic and apologetic.” It is artwork that is “meant to spark a reaction, inspire proactive action, lift a mood,” she adds. “I want you, as the viewer, to feel the energy and emotion I had while painting it.”

Her inspiration can come from almost anywhere, and having her phone on her at all times lets Sterling snap photos or take notes if an idea comes about. “I hate to lose a single spark,” she says. “I even keep paper and pen by the bed so that I don’t miss out on that idea that occurs when

I am half asleep and my brain is free to play. Sometimes a spark leads to one piece and other times it will lead to half a dozen paintings in a series. I never know until

I am in the thick of it and the spark tells me where we are going this time.”

Collectors of Sterling’s artwork generally comment on its color, layering and depth. She explains, “The colors are what first grab the viewer and draw them to the canvas. The depth/layers are what holds the viewer in place…they see more and more the longer they look. It allows the painting to become more of an experience and less of a thing.”

Sterling’s approach to her artwork can almost be seen as an opposition of her 30-year career in graphic design where much of her time was spent being “analytic and gridded and strategic.” Some days, when in front of the canvas, she finds herself still overthinking every detail in a similar way. “Those are the days I am better off just walking out of the studio and doing something else for the day,” she says. “For my paintings I need to completely let go of any rules or guidelines and just apply emotion to the canvas.”

To begin, Sterling just paints, putting marks and colors quickly on the canvas and getting into the “flow of mark and response,” she says. “Each stroke or shape leads me to the next one on the path. I have had paintings where I knew before the first mark was made exactly what it would look like at the end. But more often than not, I am as surprised as anyone at the final result. It is almost like getting to your office and not remembering actually driving there. My brain goes into a flow and I follow the path the painting provides.”

My Inspiration

My husband and I honeymooned in Tahiti. I was so struck by the colors there...both under the water in the coral gardens and above ground in the black pearl shops. There is such depth and complexity in something so simple.

My Design Strategy

This piece started out as a painting of the coral gardens we snorkeled on our honeymoon. The painting sat in a corner for more than a year as I was not happy with it. I am an abstract painter and anytime I do something more realistic I struggle against it. It just doesn’t feel right. When I picked the piece back up I spent time focusing on where we traveled, how I felt upon seeing all of the colors there, and I was reminded of my fascination with the black pearls that are a mainstay of the markets there. I found myself drawn back into my abstract style as I tried to portray that simple and yet complex beauty.

My Working Process

I incorporated sand to build up a gritty texture in some places, and then gel for a smooth texture in others. I wanted to represent both the raw and the refined. The colors were pulled from the amazing corals, fish and huge ocean clams. All of them can be seen in the surface of a black pearl. What appears to be grey at first glance…is truly an amalgamation of yellows and pinks and greens…so much color layer on layer.