Paul Sakren August 12-September 23, 2012

I have been painting since 1992, mostly in acrylics, occasionally in oils or multimedia. Most of my work tries to capture visions that have come to me throughout my life. Some of these are visions that just pop out of the canvas, others are from my past, some from noteworthy dreams, others are spontaneous waking visions. One of those visions is of a certain range of mountains that has particular meaning for me and which has haunted me all my life. Since 2008 I have been working on a series dedicated to this theme, exploring the possibilities of where it might take me. Rather than trying to paint traditional landscapes, I want to create a sense of the dream quality that these landscapes have for me, and so they tend toward a certain impressionistic abstraction, with shapes, colors and strokes representing the energy of subliminal imagery and symbolic content. If there is a meaning or message in my works, it manifests only after they are completed. For me each painting is a process of allowing imagery to suggest itself spontaneously, doing away with the unnecessary, and refining the painting to meet my aesthetic goals of color, composition and effect. I have lived in Northwestern Connecticut for most of my life, sometimes making second homes in San Francisco CA, Cork Ireland and Glasgow Scotland. My professional calling has been as a land- scape gardener and designer which has allowed me to follow my other passion (painting) in the down months of winter. My experience outdoors in nature has always influenced my paintings. My father, Bill Sakren, was an artist, illustrator and professional cartoonist, and I grew up drawing and painting from age one. I have had solo shows at Artwell Gallery and The Warner Atrium Gallery in Torrington, The Gallery at NCCC in Winsted, Cornwall Library and Burnham Library, and have been in group shows at ALL Gallery in New Haven, Risley Gallery in Litchfield, Periodic Art in Stonington, Windham Arts Collaborative in Willimantic, and First Street Gallery in Chelsea, among others.