"Portraits in Passing" by Ann Kozeliski at Jefferson Arts Gallery

Jefferson Arts Gallery invites you to visit “Portraits in Passing” a series of filmy, ethereal,  Sumi-e paintings by Ann Kozeliski. The exhibit will continue through the month of May.

An Ancient Eastern Art Form from the hands of a Contemporary Western Artist – Sumi-e by Ann Kozeliski

The art of Sumi-e also called Chinese Bamboo Brush Painting is over 2000 years old. The traditions passed from one generation to the next preserving the art form, guaranteeing its continued place in history.

The materials used to paint Sumi-e are called the Four Treasures.

Families throughout Asia have established themselves as the masters of making the Ink, Brushes, Paper and Sazuris; or ink stones. Handing down the secrets for generations to where today the process is the same as it has been for hundreds of years.

Four strokes form the basis of Sumi-e they are called the Four Gentlemen; from those four strokes you learn the skill of handling the various types and sizes of brushes. You soon learn that all things are made from these strokes; a birds leg is the Bamboo stroke; a rock forms from the Craggy Branch stroke. Becoming one with your brush, the ink and the paper coupled with the skill of mastering the stroke produces an absolute Zen like experience.

There are basically two styles that are studied in Sumi-e, the detailed style and the spontaneous style. The detailed style is simply that; in the spontaneous style you strive to capture the chi or energy of the subject, a task easier said than done in most cases.

I have been on the creative path all my life and nothing compares to Sumi-e. The subtle way the ink bleeds into the paper and the power a single stroke can have, is exciting every time.

Most recently I have been painting images I call “Portraits in Passing”. These are paintings of people that I see in my daily travels. Their chi is captured in my minds eye until I am able to work them out onto paper. Never taking a photograph, never sketching them first; brush and ink meet with the paper and I know from the first stroke if the painting will be what I had envisioned it to be.

When all things are working in harmony, when all the elements meet;

the result is one that keeps me striving to do more.