Avian Ardor

 

Avian Ardor 

Ring Around the Rosie

Moonlight Duet

Jewel of the Summer Garden

Sugar Plums

Through the Woods

Into the Blue

Clementine

By Tom Wachunas 

“A bird is joy incarnate.” — Myrtle Reed

“Birds are the first and the greatest performers.” — Olivier Messiaen

“My heart swelled with uncontrollable delight.”  - John James Audubon

EXHIBIT: The Golden Aviary – Paintings by Katrina Polhamus / at John Strauss Studios, 236 Walnut Ave NE in downtown Canton, Ohio, THROUGH JUNE 16, 2023 / Gallery hours Monday-Friday 10a.m to 5p.m.

https://john-strauss-furniture.myshopify.com/collections/katrina-polhamus

   Here are some excerpts from the artist’s statement (included in the above hyperlink):

   “ As a former landscape designer turned stay-at-home mother and artist [in Hudson, Ohio], I endeavor to communicate my love for the natural world and home life in my art… Each painting combines realistically-painted birds, a golden structure, and a stylized or patterned background. These elements work together harmoniously to give the painting its own unique mood and/or narrative…The use of metallic gold creates the environment for the birds, and its reflective qualities set it apart from the rest of the painting. The backgrounds are inspired by home decor patterns, sometimes modern, sometimes nostalgic, giving the birds an in-home context…I try to project a feeling of optimism and happiness in my work which are central to who I am as a person and artist."

   These truly stunning acrylic paintings by Katrina Polhamus are endowed with a rich suggestibility beyond simply “giving the birds an in-home context.”  Yes, there are certainly aspects of personal domesticity in those bright, patterned backgrounds that might be local landscapes and gardens, or wallpaper, or curtains, carpeting, even clothing. Yet the “in-home context” also feels like it has acquired a deeper vintage dimensionality and symbolism, compelling me to ask: Is Polhamus constructing shrines, making ornithology a spiritual experience?

   Her birds are indeed superbly rendered with ample scientific precision, capturing all the intricacies, both crisp and soft, of their feathery forms. Her color dynamics are rapturous and not unlike the shimmering luminosity of stained-glass window narratives you could encounter in a church.

   And those gold ‘structures’! They’re much more than stylized perches or cages. Call it a geometric religiosity. Framing and focusing our attentions, these gilded linearities often harken to the calligraphic configurations seen in the illuminated manuscripts made during the Middle Ages. Just as those marvelous artworks inspired fervent meditations on the divine, so too Polhamus’s birds. They send our reverent hearts soaring.