Craig Forrest is a native North Carolinian. For over
30 years he has been a painter in the representational school.
The artist is a graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone,
NC with a BA degree in art and a concentration in studio painting.
There he studied under the painter Bill Dunlap. He received his
primary graphics instruction at Appalachian from Noyes Capehart
Long.
Describing himself as a "Rural Realist" the artist roams the western North Carolina mountains with camera in hand, gathering "information" for the creative process he follows. Photographs made by the artist provide a starting point for paintings.
The emphasis is not always on a literal translation of the photo. Many people are sometimes challenged to recognize the subject matter or locale when they are introduced to it by the artist in person. The term Artist's License has been used to explain his departure from an exact reproduction of the elements of a particular scene. In most cases, main subjects are treated as true representations.
The artist is pleased to have the distinction of being the last person ever elected a Signature Member of the Knickerbocker Artists. This art society originated in New York, New York in 1947 to encourage those interested in practicing Fine and Applied Arts ..... to publicly display their works for recognition ..... and to stimulate cultural awareness and enjoyment for the public.
It was an elite art society dedicated to showing the best in Contemporary Art.
Over the years, the society gradually lost purpose and in the end was dissolved by its board of directors out of a necessity that became evident to them.
To quote a past president:
"Heaven reserves a special place for anyone who gets rid of an art organization on earth."
Painting above: Weathered Oak, watercolor and egg medium
I see an even stronger suit in Craig's work, and that is his treatment of atmospheric perspective. I see Hudson (River) school reverence for nature's beauty, its magnitude, heavenly ........ But what amazes me about Craig's paintings is that he does not need a huge canvas and acres of foliage, rivers, lakes, and ponds, and mists rising off sloughs, with orange sunlit rays breaking out of cloud banks to show us his deft handling of distance.
No, Craig pulls it off with minimal color, nuances of softened detail, in simplistic vistas. Craig's snowy fields cradle weathered old barns and the composition's Tension Point ( he calls it ) draws the viewer way back into the field behind the barn, snow-covered trees, diminishing ever-so-softly in detail, that it looks like it goes back to West Virginia.
He accomplishes this more by what he does not do, than what he does, leaving close to 50% of the space in the snowy look of untouched paper. Amazing! You have to see his images to appreciate how powerful his nothing is. He has subtle transition into pregnant understatement........ into negative areas down to a masterful pat.
He probably keeps a jar of atmosphere to dip his brush in.
David Maxwell
President - Knickerbocker Artists - USA
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