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Gyja Frederiksen uses color theory and more to create her art. Works including 'Paso Mas Fino' grace walls of her Stafford home.
Stafford County artist Gyja Frederiksen is passionate about horses and her art. |
By KATHLEEN LEWIS
GYJA FREDERIKSEN never owned a horse, but always wanted one.
"All little girls are fascinated with horses," she says.
Eventually, she took matters into her own hands. Today, she's an artist whose Stafford County living room showcases colorful paintings of the animals.
Frederiksen grew up in Washington, studied art in college and has shown her work in the Fredericksburg region.
On one wall of her home is "One and the Same," a black figure of a horse that sizzles electric blue around the edges.
The color placement in her work is intentional.
Years ago Frederiksen queried a color-blind acquaintance to find out what color combinations he was able to distinguish. And then, using careful placement of the various colors, she painted something he could see.
She explained that the colors outlining the figure make it possible for someone to distinguish between colors that usually appear the same.
On one of her living room walls is a blue-green pony, edged in white and purple with a copper background. Under candlelight, the copper shines. This shining helps further define the horse figure.
"You can see the horse by default," she explained.
Frederiksen said she chooses color combinations for other reasons.
"I know what that color means and what person will be attracted to the painting," she said.
People who are firmly grounded in their spiritual beliefs will be drawn toward the black horse, Frederiksen explained. Other color combinations indicate creativity or various other personality traits. Her theories come from "Embrace Hue You Are," by Dewey Sadka.
Another Stafford County artist shares Frederiksen's passion for creating unique equine art.
For years, Robyn Ryan painted horses hunting, racing, grazing. That's how she saw them while growing up on a horse farm.
But then she found herself yearning for a fresh way to represent them on canvas.
"I got bored," Ryan explained.
So the resident of southern Stafford County pulled out her sketchbook with its pages of equine body parts and began combining them for a colorful patchwork-quilt effect. The result was a collection of works she calls "Equine Shapes."
She took several examples of the project to a workshop led by artist Katherine Cheng Liu. Liu liked Ryan's expressive work, but encouraged her to take it further.
Liu suggested that Ryan work the smaller equine shapes into the large horse figure.
"She spawned the inspiration," said Ryan.
The result was the puzzle-like, psychedelic-colored equine figures in the "In and Out" collection.
Last Fall, Ryan showed "Equine Shapes & Other Recent Work" at the Atrium Gallery in the Central Rappahannock Regional Library headquarters.
It was her first solo exhibit and another step in building her confidence to evolve from full-time engineer and part-time artist to full-time artist.
Now she's celebrating the one-year anniversary of moving her canvases, sculptures and art supplies from the Falmouth home she shares with her husband, Tim, to the downtown Fredericksburg studio she shares with other artists.
Each week, Ryan spends several nights and one full day there dabbing paint, sketching or massaging clay onto wire and plumber's pipe.
"My art is play," said Ryan, who grew up in a home where art was valued.
She took watercolor lessons at the age of 8, following in the footsteps of a great-uncle and her paternal grandfather, who were artists. When her grandfather died, Ryan inherited his art books and supplies.
She admires Edgar Degas for his equine sculptures and drawings, and John Singer Sargent for his use of light and mood.
Although her favorite artistic subject is horses, she wants others to views her work more broadly.
"I want my paintings to stand on their own as art, not just equine art," she explained.
Frederiksen and Ryan are lucky. Forget about girlish yearnings--they can satisfy their love of horses by adding to their canvas corrals whenever it strikes their fancies.
Robyn Ryan can be contacted at 540/752-5211 and her work can be viewed at rryan.myexpose.com.
Gyja Frederiksen can be contacted at
Email: exquisitepureart@mac.com.
To reach KATHLEEN LEWIS:
Email: klewis@freelancestar.com
