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| Nicole McCormick Santiago, Susan with Toys and Lollipops, oil on canvas, 24x38 |
Reminiscent of Wayne Thiebault’s bakery shop paintings,
McCormick Santiago is painting pastry as still life. There are bold pops of pinks, reds, and
deliciously painted patterns, all immaculately rendered. Interestingly enough the artist participates
in some of her compositions mixing still life with self portraiture. The artist paints herself with equal amounts
of enthusiasm and articulation as paper plates, party cups, and cupcakes.
McCormick Santiago’s careful calibration of whimsical color
is exciting and expressive. Her use of
white color is outstanding. There were
easily a dozen shades of white in each piece but most spectacularly in Susan with Toys and Lollipops, oil on canvas, 24 x 38 inches. The use of color as light and shape carried
by the sensitivity of the brush strokes is pure brilliance. Her still life paintings integrate seamlessly
from the pastry shop to the nursery.
They share a similar palette, perfect drawing, and an engaging use of
light, space, and unusual perspective. Painting
chops aside, McCormick’s innate sense of composition makes for irresistible
paintings.
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| Nicole McCormick Santiago, Cakes, Cupcakes, Lollipops,oil on canvas, 8x6 |
If it was the color and the composition of shapes that
attract the viewer to the larger scaled works, the small scaled works have
tripled the impact. The fresh,
immediate, and “quick” appearance of the small paintings would make any painter
drool. Gone is the careful glazing of
layer after layer of meticulously applied paint and what is left is deft
strokes of pure color capturing form and light all at once! The painting is magical! The dash, dot, dot, of a brush loaded with
burnt clementine pigment transforms the end of a limb into a curled foot. This is the kind of “blink and you miss it”
mark making that is more like dancing with paint. This is pure skill that comes from thousands
of hours spent in the studio, honing your craft, taking risks, and painting for
painting’s sake.
The content of the paintings is also something worth
spending time with. McCormick Santiago’s
paintings are about experiencing life, focusing on the positive, and taking the
time to pause and see what is in front of her.
The saying goes: you eat with your eyes before your mouth. This is possibly most true with desserts than
other food group. The special beauty of decorated
cakes and pastries is homage to this truth.
McCormick Santiago is not only taking the time to “eat” with her eyes,
the cake, but also objects that surround and make up the pieces of her life. Cakes, forks and knives, a pretty table cloth,
baby toys, tubes of paint, and herself and her child as “objects” participate
in McCormick Santiago’s personal “meal.”
The tabletop is a representation of life and the still life paintings
are the result of the artist “eating with her eyes” before she digs in and
lives her life. The paintings are a visual
representation of a reminder to find enjoyment in every bit of it along the way.
It is
an especially loaded message from an artist, who also happens to be a woman,
having her cake … and eating it, too.
This optimistic and deliciously painted show is up until
June 15. Check it out!
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