Romero Street Gallery

Michelle Chrisman’s Personal Colorist Philosophy:   I did not start out thinking that I wanted to be a “colorist,” rather, I sought to be well-grounded in the basic principles of the French Impressionists and how light works in the outdoor world, what I call “The Physics of Light.”

I began intense study with carefully chosen professional painters who I admired, who were grounded in painting with a limited palette and correct values.  I still do not believe that color is as important as value.  If the value is wrong, it is a song played out of key.  I didn’t seek color; it was just in me. I have had a life-long passion with color and how they “feel” next to one another.  An Elementary school teacher once said to me, “Look, the sky is sky blue, pink!”  That thrilled me!  How could something be blue and pink at the same time, I thought?  But why not?   Visually, I am incapable of seeing earth tones, black or grays, as I see them all as a mix of colors.  The more confident I became as a painter; I began adding more color to my palette and Expressionism seeped into my work.  I am an action painter.  Being outdoors in nature and weather, approaching the canvas as a physical dance, “painting on the edge of disaster,” pushes me to an intuitive zone, far more exciting than an intellectual one.

My 2 most important artist quotes:

“A painting is only good if it is good in the abstract sense.”  Georgia O’keeffe

“Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe