PAINTINGS NEXT AT UU GALLERY

Soirsce Kastner – (Painting)

PORTRAITS, LIVING ART AND MYTHOLOGICAL PAINTINGS NEXT AT UU GALLERY (October 5-31)

EPHRAIM, WI - A youthful and inquisitively talented artist, Soirsce Moriarty Kastner credits Carol Sills for awakening her to reflective painting through "story telling." At the age of eleven she enrolled in a Sills class at the Peninsula Art School. The assignment was to "hear a folk story and then paint an artistic impression."  From this early introduction to the concept of narrative painting, Soirsce continued to advance her knowledge and experience, taking adult-level painting and drawing classes there for several years.

As a home-schooled student, she had the early-on opportunity to pursue and complete three years of formal, studio training at the Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art beginning in 2005. Over the course of her study she eventually lived and worked in Kewaunee as a full time art student, focusing on representational painting under the direction of her well-known and accomplished mentor, Door County artist, Craig Blietz.

"I've always enjoyed drawing people and figures," she explains, "especially in capturing their emotional energy." She uses oils exclusively and paints in a style she describes as "impressionistic realism," confirming that she "has been highly influenced by several Russian and Chinese figurative painters, as well as by the works of J.W. Waterhouse, John Singer-Sargent and my mentor, Craig Blietz."

Recently, she added the Scandinavian mythological goddess, Idunn, to her canvas iconography and plans to include specific paintings of her in an upcoming October solo exhibition of her works at the Unitarian Universalist Gallery in Ephraim.

Soirsce's award-winning paintings and drawings have been displayed at the Miller Art Museum's annual High School Salon of Art where she won top honors all four years she exhibited.  Her masterful life drawings led the way for high school student artists to display unclothed figure studies in this annual exhibition. Traditional figurative work has been included from that time forward.

Soirsce has shown and sold her representational art works in the Annual Guenzel Gallery, New Year's Gala.  In June, 2008, she won a Juror's Award at the Francis Hardy Center for the Arts. Her work has also been featured at Barnsite Gallery in Kewaunee, at the Academy Gallery in Fish Creek and in the recent Kewaunee Academy of Fine Art Show at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay.

She lives and paints at her studio in Fish Creek. Her name, Gaelic in origin, means "spiritual freedom" and currently reflects her plans to spend this winter living and painting in her studio in Shanghai, China. She speaks Mandarin and intends to pursue further studies of traditional Russian-influenced Chinese painting methods in China.

The public is invited to see an extensive collection of her work and attend an opening reception on Sunday, October 5 at the UU Gallery following services from 11 AM - 12:30 AM. You can also find out more and see her portfolio on-line at: Soirsce.com. The Gallery is open Mondays from 1 - 3 PM and on Sundays during and after services, located at 10341 Hwy. 42, in Ephraim. For more information about the UU Fellowship visit UUFDC.org. To learn more about upcoming shows or exhibiting art work, please call 920.839.2606.