Karin Neuvirth
Boone, North Carolina
I use a palette knife to paint vibrant textural works that emphasize the beauty that I see in the world all around us.
MessageVisual artist, Karin Neuvirth is best known for her textural acrylic paintings of wooded landscapes which she refers to as treescapes. Her current style of painting involves many layers of paint which she applies with a palette knife utilizing the technique of using broken color to create a sense of movement within her work. Color is the most prominent element in her work. In order to form a more thorough understanding of color, she chooses to mix all of the colors that she uses from only the primary colors and white.
Karin grew up on a farm in southern Minnesota where the winters were always difficult for her. The cold grey days took a toll on her mood, but as she developed her style of painting, she found that the vibrant colors helped her to combat the melancholy that the weather caused her. Color has always been the focus of Karin’s work, but when she moved to Durham, North Carolina in 2011, she began to work with a palette knife and developed her current style of textural acrylic paintings.
Statement
One Winter back in Minnesota we did not see the sun for more then 40 days. Nothing but grey and cold from dawn to dusk day after day!
If you’re like me, just the thought of that dreary climate might make you want to crawl under the covers and hibernate until spring. Life goes on however, and hibernation not being a viable option, I began to use my art to compensate for the lack of natural light and color out my window. I found that the vibrant color combinations could evoke emotions similar to those that I felt on summer walk through the woods. I’m not in Minnesota any longer. I’m in North Carolina enjoying short mild winters and wonderfully long summers, but those long cold winters will never be forgotten.
I know that colors impact our emotions. The vibrant color combinations I use in my work are meant to be uplifting and inspirational. I paint with a palette knife to create textural, energetic, and impressionistic paintings that speak to my own spontaneous yet restless nature. I want to create works that combat the negativity in the world and replace it with joy. My subjects are simple, but they are things that we should stop and pay attention to every day. We should take time to just feel the colors in the world around us.
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