GALLERY NEWS

Margaretta Caesar’s painting style draws inspiration from her favorite artists: Vincent Van Gogh, Birger Sandzen, Alyce Frank, Lynn Rowan Myers, and Richard Diebenkhorn. Of her colorful, bold, and nature-loving voice, Caesar suggests its timbre “falls somewhere in between” the Fauves and the Taos Society of Artists’.” However, invariably, when brush hits canvas, it is the artist’s own voice that emerges, one she always works to evolve and develop, but always “thrilling” the viewer with the beauty of the place. In this interview with Ann Korologos Gallery, the artist shares the journey from painting from instinct to intention.

AKG: Your palette is bold and vibrant, and you mentioned once in an interview with Southwest Art Magazine “trees can be red and cows blue.” Where does this inclination come from? 

Margaretta Caesar: I am mostly self-taught although my mother was a wonderful influence and guide and example. She painted portraits and allowed us three kids to always have access to art supplies. Because I didn’t have a teacher telling me what was right or wrong or guiding me in one direction or another, I allowed myself to experiment and learn just through the joy of it. 

AKG: You first started painting like the Dutch masters, but quickly “let loose” with your color palette. Where did this love of color from? What gave you the confidence to break away from the traditions and paint with such vibrancy?

Margaretta Caesar: Degas once wrote, “It’s easy to paint when you don’t know what you’re doing but very hard when you do know.” When I first started to paint with vibrant colors, I may have been in that “wow, this is easy” stage.  I just wasn’t inhibited by any rules because I didn’t know any! I chose colors because I liked seeing them together, not because they were “right.”

AKG: As a self-taught painter who paints now only with instincts but with the learnings of time, what do you do to keep the inclinations that make your paintings so vibrant and alive, while incorporating the lessons along the way? 

Margaretta Caesar: As I proceed slowly toward this “I know what I’m doing” stage, I still try to keep that vibrancy and freedom. I am working to create a balance between all the elements of painting that I have learned: color balance, composition, contrast, pattern, etc. While applying these techniques, it’s important to stay present with the initial joy I discover laying on the colors I love, keeping the brush strokes loose and being brave enough to lay on the deep impasto.  It’s a challenging balance to keep the innocence of an emerging artist with the sophistication of an experienced artist.

Margaretta Caesar is featured in Ann Korologos Gallery’s Unrestrained.