Train yourself to be in awe of the subtle
and you will live in a world of beauty and ease.- Author: Rodney Yee
Caught by Stanka Cordic, 2016
Cleveland-based artist Stanka Kordic‘s exquisite and ethereal oil paintings gracefully blur the line between figurative art and absolute abstraction. With a penchant for portraiture and a fascination with female subjects, Kordic's oeuvre predominantly portrays beautiful women and young girls. (MyModernMet)
See
Give yourself 30 seconds to focus on each painting below. What do you notice? How do you feel?
Venice with the Salute, JMW Turner, 1840 (Tate)
Nocturne from Greaves Boat Yard. Walter Greaves, 1846-1930
Fabian Waits by Gill Bustamante
Waterloo Bridge, London, at Dusk, 1904 Claude Monet
Say
As you spent time meditating on each piece, how did the paintings change or reveal themselves to you?
Is there a painting that you were more interested in after spending time with it?
What moods or feelings did the different paintings draw out in you?
Do
Watch the process of a Stanka Kordic painting.
Read about how Atmospheric Perspective can create mood in your work.
About the Artist:
Stanka Kordic is a first-generation American born to Croatian parents. She followed her talented brothers, Vladimir and Branko, into the world of Art. Stanka graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 1985 with a major in illustration and a minor in painting. From there, she traveled Europe, taking in as much art as humanly possible. She returned to work as an illustrator for several years. Her projects included editorial art, package design, and book illustration.
In pursuit of artistic freedom, she left the commercial world in 1988 to establish a professional art studio, concentrating her efforts on painting the landscape and figure. This led to portrait commissions, international awards, and inclusion in several corporate collections throughout the midwest, including Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and Key Corp. Since 2009, her focus has been to develop her personal figurative work. Stanka's awards include, the Gold Medal of Honor in Painting from Allied Artists of America, and 2 Certificates of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America International Competition. Her work has been exhibited and collected widely, including: Museu Europeu d’Art Modern in Barcelona, Spain, the National Arts Club, and the Salmagundi Club in New York City, as well as the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio. Artist website
Gallery Representation:
Stanek Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown Cape Cod, MAStanka’s work and process has been featured in: International Artist Magazine, Fine Art Connoiseur, Southwest Art, and The Artists Magazine. Her paintings are also included in the book, Disrupted Realism: Paintings for a Distracted World, by John Seed.
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