Portraits, abstracts go on display at library
The portraits and abstract paintings featured on Kilbourn Library’s art wall may look like the work of two different artists.
But both come from the brain of local artist Tom Scharbach. Or to put it more precisely, each style comes from one side of his brain.
Scharbach said he uses the left side, the analytical side, for his portrait pieces and the right side, the visual and intuitive side, for his abstract painting. He said he can switch between working on the abstract and portrait pieces, but the demands are different.
“I can switch modes, but it is two different complete modes,” Scharbach said.
For the black and white portraits, Scharbach frames the painting very closely to his subject’s face.
Scharbach said he doesn’t try to reproduce a face exactly, and he is more interested in capturing its expression.
“When I’m doing the portraits I have a very clear specific, face, emotion that I’m trying to get,” Scharbach said. “I’m really working to get that expression.”
Scharbach said he was influenced by the how to draw and how to cartoon books his father got him after he came down with rheumatic fever as a child and was confined to his bed for several months.
“That’s where these faces came in,” Scharbach said.
When Scharbach works on a portrait he break’s down his subject’s face into its component shapes until he is able to reduce it to its most basic elements. He then brings that plan to the canvas, working on the piece in stages.
For his abstract pieces, Scharbach said he works on those here and there for around four to six days, and he does not try to guide the process. He said he started about a year ago as a break from portrait pieces by working on paintings with no subject: just a focus on light and color.
“I love color and I love light,” Scharbach said. “I’m simply trying to let color and light do what they will.”
Scharbach said people tell him they see objects like a carnival mask or landscapes like a stormy seacoast in these paintings. He said he never sees these until someone mentions it to him and it is never his intention to include them.
When he has tried in the past, the paintings have never turned out well, Scharbach said.
Currently Scharbach is also working on painting a series featuring area rusty old trucks. He said the painting are Fauvist — a style of painting he described as impressionism on steroids — and Fauvism is the style of painting he worked with around the time he started painting after returning from Vietnam.
Going forward, Scharbach said he is thinking about working on a project involving three dimensional paintings and one involving magnetic tiles of varying shades. He said he plans to continue to explore painting and have a good time in life.
“That’s one of the great things about being completely amateur,” Scharbach said. “I don’t have to paint what anyone wants. I can do what I please.”
Scharbach’s paintings can be seen on the art wall at the Kilbourn Library where they will be featured until September when a new artist’s work will go up.
But both come from the brain of local artist Tom Scharbach. Or to put it more precisely, each style comes from one side of his brain.
Scharbach said he uses the left side, the analytical side, for his portrait pieces and the right side, the visual and intuitive side, for his abstract painting. He said he can switch between working on the abstract and portrait pieces, but the demands are different.
“I can switch modes, but it is two different complete modes,” Scharbach said.
For the black and white portraits, Scharbach frames the painting very closely to his subject’s face.
Scharbach said he doesn’t try to reproduce a face exactly, and he is more interested in capturing its expression.
“When I’m doing the portraits I have a very clear specific, face, emotion that I’m trying to get,” Scharbach said. “I’m really working to get that expression.”
Scharbach said he was influenced by the how to draw and how to cartoon books his father got him after he came down with rheumatic fever as a child and was confined to his bed for several months.
“That’s where these faces came in,” Scharbach said.
When Scharbach works on a portrait he break’s down his subject’s face into its component shapes until he is able to reduce it to its most basic elements. He then brings that plan to the canvas, working on the piece in stages.
For his abstract pieces, Scharbach said he works on those here and there for around four to six days, and he does not try to guide the process. He said he started about a year ago as a break from portrait pieces by working on paintings with no subject: just a focus on light and color.
“I love color and I love light,” Scharbach said. “I’m simply trying to let color and light do what they will.”
Scharbach said people tell him they see objects like a carnival mask or landscapes like a stormy seacoast in these paintings. He said he never sees these until someone mentions it to him and it is never his intention to include them.
When he has tried in the past, the paintings have never turned out well, Scharbach said.
Currently Scharbach is also working on painting a series featuring area rusty old trucks. He said the painting are Fauvist — a style of painting he described as impressionism on steroids — and Fauvism is the style of painting he worked with around the time he started painting after returning from Vietnam.
Going forward, Scharbach said he is thinking about working on a project involving three dimensional paintings and one involving magnetic tiles of varying shades. He said he plans to continue to explore painting and have a good time in life.
“That’s one of the great things about being completely amateur,” Scharbach said. “I don’t have to paint what anyone wants. I can do what I please.”
Scharbach’s paintings can be seen on the art wall at the Kilbourn Library where they will be featured until September when a new artist’s work will go up.
