Sandra Smith-Dugan was born, raised and educated in California's
San Francisco Bay Area. Her earliest exposure to art came from her
mother, a University of California at Berkeley fine arts graduate
and painter. Growing up in an artistic and creative family, Sandra
went on to obtain her Bachelors of Fine Art in painting and
drawing from San Jose State University. She continued her studies
at the San Francisco Art Institute, University of California at
Santa Cruz, and professional workshops.
Sandra Smith-Dugan paints in oil on canvas and board with an
emphasis on the landscape, urbanscape and figure. Painting en
plein air or in the studio, her work is open and expressive
and showcases her innate sense of color and composition.
Smith-Dugan's style, which clearly has its own unique and
evolutionary character, shows the influences of Bay Area
Figurative painter Richard Diebenkorn, Joan Brown and Wayne
Thiebaud, as well as that of American realist Edward Hopper.
As an
artist, I use painting as a conduit for the full expression of what I
see, feel, know and desire. I am a native Californian, raised in the Bay
Area, so much of my work finds its roots in the rich context of the
people and landscape of this region. Lucian Freud, and the Bay Area
Figurative school painters, such as Richard Diebenkorn, Wayne Thiebaud
and Elmer Bischoff have all been strong influences on my style and
process.
Life has a way of inspiring me with a plentitude of subject matter. When
painting the figure, I work with a direct and immediate approach that
takes full advantage of the model's energy and physical language. This
provides me with an appropriate means of interconnecting the objective
and the subjective, and using sensual observation to present personal
reflections on our shared humanity.
I look at landscapes and urbanscapes as living entities with a past and
a future. When painting them, I try to convey my sense of their drama
and energy and to visually imbue the scenes with a combined sense of
history and presence. When approaching a new canvas, my first emphasis
is on developing a strong composition. I then focus on the painting
elements of color, light, value and texture. The finished painting is a
reflection of the present, interwoven with the complexity of the past
and the promise of the future.
Published in:
American Art Collector: A Juried Competition of New Work, Vol.3,
Book 1 - Western States, 2006
Los Gatos Weekly Review
Half
Moon Bay Review
Triton Museums George Rivera Review
Home | Welcome | Paintings | Drawings | Blog | Artist Information | Contact the Artist
|
