Andrea Gabel

I’ve been drawing and painting most of my life. I earned my Bachelor’s of Fine Art from Colorado State University in 1985 with a concentration in Graphic Design. I received awards in drawing, painting, and graphic design.

Choosing to study graphic design at CSU was a move toward my goal, but after having worked in advertising for 3 years, I decided that commercial art was not for me.

The next twelve years brought with it marriage, three children, and no time for art. In 1999, I began to pursue art again. I took numerous painting classes in the Colorado front-range area, including the Denver Art Museum and Loveland Art Academy. My most influential teachers were Russ Tanner, Chuck Ceraso and Kim English. Other influences came from the Impressionists and Post-impressionists, as well as Sergei Bongart, Jackson Pollock, Turner, Van Gogh, and Kandinsky.

I’ve been accepted into juried shows, invitational shows, and have won awards. I am a member of the Greeley Art Association, PAAC (Plein Air Artists of Colorado), and PAPEP (Plein Air Painters of Estes Park). I presently show my work at the Madison and Main art gallery and Christy’s Art House in Greeley, Colorado.

Artist Statement

I work mainly in oil. I love capturing on canvas my feelings and perceptions in an immediate way, reacting to my surroundings and views in a single painting session. There’s a feeling you get in the actual moment of beholding your subject that is simpler and stronger than the feeling you get from a recorded moment, like working from photographs and studies. It’s like being on your vacation and experiencing it, verses looking at photographs and remembering it. For the viewer, I hope they will sense the aliveness and spontaneity that only comes from being in that moment. I do mostly plein air painting, because I enjoy being outdoors.

I have done a few indoor studio paintings using my outdoor studies and photographs. I spend more time working on my basic skills this way, taking the time to develop skills like accurate seeing, interesting color and design, and various painting methods. It is also a good time to experiment with liquid color and its ability to create images.

Painting in the representational style is a way of creating the world in a unique, personal, and thoughtful way. It’s like taking a photograph with my body, heart, and mind. It’s sensual, emotional, and intellectual.