KIM KLABE
Kim Klabe’s artworks are unusual in that they are based on wine or beer pours. Pours are made by pouring wine or dark beer on #400 watercolor paper, letting the liquid dry, then looking at the dried stain/image to see what shapes appear. Those shapes are defined with markers and colored pencil, using the lines/shapes of the pour. Some of the wine or beer stain is left untouched, other areas are mostly covered, but the integrity of the pour remains. Kim says, “Sometimes I have no direction for the final outcome, and discover as I go along.”
Kim is from Rehoboth, Delaware and is a graduate of University of Delaware with a major in Painting and the Antonelli Institute of Art and Photography.
She began working in wine and beer pours in August 2017, after working in oils and watercolors for over 30 years. She says, “Painting had become stifling, and boredom had set in. Representational painting was not only very competitive, but lacked what I desperately needed – a way to express myself freely and creatively.”
Klabe says, “Working in pours re-connected me to the creativity and imagination I experienced in art school. The direction of the wine dictates how distorted a figure may or may not be, and no longer is representation a necessary part of my painting. There is no sketching to plan the drawing, I go right to the pour with a marker and try to reign in the happy chaos of the pour.
“This is a self-imposed discipline that energizes me and encourages me to think that there are no ‘mistakes’. Three eyes and 12 fingers are actually quite the norm. The pours cause people to look, to reflect, to think and yes – to laugh. The colors and the energy draw the eye and conversation ensues. The fact that the pours get their start from wine and beer only adds to the conversation.”
WORKS SHOWN BELOW ARE REPRESENTATIVE AND MAY BE NOT AVAILABLE. PLEASE CHECK WITH DISTRICT ARTS FOR CURRENT SELECTIONS.
