Saturday, October 10, 2015 from 5:00-7:00PM at Tidemark Gallery, 902 Main St., Waldoboro, is the opening night of striking collection of new work by Jean Kigel, a long-time, award-winning member of the Sumi-e Society of America.  Black and White and a Bit of Color includes sumi-e paintings, etchings, and monoprints, many of them on Kigel’s own, hand-made Eastern paper.  Kigel’s work is currently included in the Sumi-e Society’s 2015 Annual Exhibition in Mobile, Alabama, juried by the distinguished sumi-e master, Shozo Sato. 

A native of Warren, Maine, Kigel states that her paintings for Tidemark Gallery demonstrate the “art of less”; she says, “Never do more, when less will do.”  By stripping away color in a composition, she de-clutters an image into its basic elements of light, shade, and texture. The difficulty comes in making these elements as potent as possible. 

She seeks a minimalistic effect, creating art with a simple juxtaposition of ink, and empty space.  In most of her paintings, a red chop provides the sole “bit of color” of the show’s title.  The chop stands out to anchor the flow of the composition.    In some works, the chop is meant to be the first thing that attracts the eye; in other works, it serves more as the end point.  But a spot of red is not the only color.   In several of the works in this show, Kigel adds tones of yellow,green, blue and sienna.  In these cases color serves to suggest the belly of a penguin, or the iciness of water at docks. 

In rendering the essence of a subject, every brush stroke contains artistic expressiveness.  Visit this show and read your own feelings into Kigel’s subjects, which include animals, plants, and landscapes.  Unframed work is available, in addition to work hung on walls. The show continues through November 15 from 10-5 Wednesday through Saturday.  FMI contact Tidemark Gallery at 207 832-5109 and www.jeankigel.com