Art may be in the eye of the beholder, but one local artist would like her paintings to beholden to as many sets of eyes as possible.
This month, a number of Maria Sieben’s paintings are on display at the Barrhead Public Library.
“People do not have to like or agree with my work, but I want them to at least look at it and think about the message I am trying to convey,” Sieben said. “Like it or hate it, I hope when someone sees one of my paintings it makes an impact on them and it is something they remember.”
Sieben, a Barrhead resident since 2002, said that even though she has been fascinated with the beauty of nature and has always been interested in art, finding work as a designer after leaving university, it was not until fairly recently that she took up art.
“It all started after I took a tole painting class at the local craft store, here and my interest and love for painting just grew from there,” she said.
Tole is a painting style where artists paint decorative designs on objects on everyday items such as coffee pots, utensils or furniture.
However, Sieben said although she enjoyed the class and the process of painting the designs on the mostly wooden objects, she did not find it fulfilling.
“You paint them to other people’s patters and I did not like that,” she said. “I wanted to paint my own stuff. Everything I paint is original, it is never copied.”
However, she said what really got her hooked on painting is when she entered an Alberta Communities Art Club Association (ACACA) art show contest and ended up winning first place in the beginners category.
The ACACA is a grassroots organization whose aim is to foster art in rural Alberta by giving artists an outlet and a network to show and develop their art.
Sieben said the ACACA has not only helped many rural Alberta artists, but has created a culture and atmosphere in small communities where art can grow and develop.
In the beginning of her career Sieben said she was interested in painting the beauty she found in nature by creating works showcasing large landscapes.
However, it did not take Sieben long to branch out and try her hand at different types of painting.
“I want to go out of the box,” Sieben said. “I don’t want to paint like everyone else, I want to be different.”
It was this desire to be unique and different that led Sieben to her current style of painting which she calls, semi-abstract and experimental.
“It is about conveying an idea rather than painting what you see,” she said.
An example Sieben gave is her series based on a the 1932 William Faulkner novel called, ‘Light in August.’
The book is set in a fictional county in Mississippi and focuses on the story of an interracial love affair between a white woman and a black man, in the 1930s.
“It is an American classic, much like Hemmingway and a great book for a painter,” Sieben said. “He leaves a lot of the story to the reader’s imagination.”
Her favourite painting of the series is, ‘Bryon Falls In Love (But he doesn’t know it yet).’
It is a painting in which, Sieben depicts a young couple falling in love.
“How do you show love? How can you depict someone’s emotions, in a painting” Sieben asked. The first step in the process, Sieben said, is to first sketch out your idea on paper and then transfer the drawing on to the canvas.
After she has the sketch on the canvass, she then starts to paint.
“Sometimes it takes a number of paintings until, I get it to the point when I know it is finished,” Sieben said, adding that it took three attempts until she was happy with ‘Bryon Falls In Love.’
Sieben’s exhibition can be seen at the Barrhead Public Library.
