Excitement and Energy

Painting in a loose, impressionistic style allows Michele Usibelli to push her work to new limits

Painting in a loose, impressionistic style allows Michele Usibelli to push her work to new limits

Survey even a small portfolio of my artwork and, while you would immediately recognize my compositional choices, palette and brushwork, you might find yourself hard pressed to categorize my work. Am I a landscape painter? Figurative? Architectural? And just when you think you have a handle on my oil paintings, I tend to mix things up even further by adding works in acrylic and the opaque form of water color, gouache. None of this happens by accident. I do not want to be pinned down to a specific subject matter or medium. I have the need to paint multiple subjects; it keeps me inspired. The thought of being strictly a landscape, figurative or portrait painter wouldn’t afford me the flexibility to keep work exciting for me. I like having the freedom to choose my subjects and medium depending on the day and my mood.

This flexibility is exciting to me, and in return, I believe my work portrays that excitement and energy. Painting in my loose, impressionist style hasn’t come easy for me. My early career as an architect and my strict, technical training resulted in my early paintings being tightly rendered and extremely precise. In those early days, in my mind and in my heart, I was an impressionist. But in my ability, I was a very “tight” painter. Through years of dedication, experimentation, perseverance and hard work, I feel I have started to hit my groove and I am enjoying the process of painting more and more each day. But I am never satisfied with past successes and have big plans for future projects using different mediums and perhaps trying my hand at sculpting. I must continue to push the limits in an effort to keep my work “fresh” and interesting for both myself and my collectors.

Piazza del Popolo, oil, 20 x 10" (51 x 25 cm) The composition of this piece draws heavily on my architectural background. This very complex composition was first drawn in using burnt umber, making sure the painting was composed exactly how I wanted it on the panel. Color was then applied in my loose, bold style, with my goal in this painting being the play of warm and cool colors and the energy created by those two opposing elements.

Beach Walk, acrylic, 16 x 20" (41 x 51 cm)

Current Events, oil, 20 x 16" (51 x 41 cm) This piece, depicting a New York City street scene, was awarded the Silver Medal at the 2015 Oil Painters of America exhibition hosted by the Salmagundi Club in New York City. I always set a goal or multiple goals before beginning a new painting. My goal with this piece was to simplify a very busy scene and “abstract” out the background so that it supports but doesn’t compete with the focal point, which is the person standing at the newsstand.

Rua Agusta, gouache, 9 x 12" (23 x 30 cm)