“Calm” by Stephanie McDairmant

By DARLA MCCAMMON
Lakeland Art Association

Stephanie McDairmant has found a unique approach with her creativity in art.  Kelly Shoemaker, director of Lakeland Art Gallery exhibits shares information about the exhibit coming up featuring McDairmant.

“She will be exhibiting at LAA Feb. 1 through March 3, 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. We will be having an artist reception on Feb. 11, 2 to 4 p.m, open to the public.”

Shoemaker goes on enthusiastically about this artist, “We are really excited to be hosting this exhibit. Stephanie’s work is amazing, and her technique is so unique. She has become a very popular artist in this area very quickly. People love her work.” McDairmant calls her work “Canary in a Coal Mine” art.

McDairmant uses paint, yes, but she controls and moves it around using her breath, not brushes.  Her website displays her signature black and white paintings but this exhibit pulls at our imagination as she demonstrates her prowess with color.  The painting shown is titled “Calm.”  Another of her works also demonstrates her love of “calm.”

McDairmant talks about her love of things calm wen she says, “One of my favorite sights in the whole world is watching my husband at the ocean.  He breathes more deeply, and is more relaxed than any other time.  He looks complete.  Deeply calm.  I want that.  I would bottle that feeling and drink it for breakfast if I could.  These paintings are my attempt to explore that look, that feeling, and maybe in that process claim some of it for myself.

McDairmant’s work is mostly bold abstract paintings manipulating the paint with her breath.  As a self-taught artist she has managed to acquire many awards.  Artprize in Grand Rapids Michigan, and on the HGTV show Tiny House Big Living, her work has also appeared on wine labels as the winner of the 2017 Mallow Run Artist Series. Work by McDairmant is all in acrylic, a fast drying medium that mimics oil in many ways but requires dexterity and quick work by the artist.

Her biography concludes with: “While her acryic paintings are in privately held collections all over the United States, her most cherished honor was winning the window painting contest at the local Holiday Inn when she was en years old.  Born in California, she now lives in Indiana with her husband and two children.”

Upcoming and Current Events:

• January exhibit by Sherrie Johnson at Warsaw City Hall.
• The entire month of January into early February, Honeywell Art Gallery in Wabash is featuring the art of famous Warner Brothers cartoons.
• Feb. 1-March 3, Stephanie McDairman at LAA gallery, Warsaw.
• Coming February, top students from Grace College return to Warsaw City Hall with winning work.

For more information on topics in this column, please contact Darla McCammon at [email protected] or (574) 527-4044. Older columns at www.darlamc.com