Stephanie Bird. Artist. Herbalist. Author of ten books. Both fiction and non-fiction. Included in various anthologies. Professor. Business owner. Mother. Soap maker.
Artist Stephanie Bird on Mishkalo
Her resume will give anybody a serious inferiority complex. Yet, she is a calm, relaxed, almost laid-back person who wears her accomplishments with grace and humility. Always ready to jump into the next project.
Mishkalo is pleased to call Stephanie Rose Bird one of our artists.
A modern day Georgia O’keefe, Stephanie grew up in rural New Jersey surrounded by lakes, gardens, flowers and birds. As such, nature is still a major subject of her paintings, interpreted with her artistic eyes and hands.
Chilli by artist Stephanie Bird on Mishkalo.
Currently working on two expressionistic series – fruit and vegetables – Stephanie says, “It is interesting working with representational art and abstract expressionism simultaneously. Admittedly, I am partial to working abstractly yet I find both styles inform each other. I find there is a lot of pinned up energy during the winter and working with sumi-ink and brush painting, as well as mixed media on paper is the perfect way to capture all of that energy and get it down on paper or canvas.”
Artist in Residence
Always active in engaging and being engaged in the community, she has been selected to be the Artist-in Residence at Channahon – the place where Kankakee and Des Plaines rivers come together to form the Illinois river. “Can’t wait to capture the water,” she says gleefully.
Solo Exhibition
Further, she is preparing to exhibit her work this Winter and Spring in a solo exhibition at the Forest Park National Bank in Forest Park, IL. It should be interesting to see how the works relate to one another and contrast in mood, color and light, from one season to the next. The subject matter is landscape, plants, and botanicals, done in an Expressionist, Cubist and Abstract Expressionist style. She has enjoyed working expressionistically and in abstraction for quite some time. Neo-Cubism is a new enthusiasm. Her intention is to portray the border between representation and abstraction that occurs when focusing on light, shape, line and color rather than realistic representation of my subject matter.
Author
All this while she is writing a book of fiction, managing her company and writing articles on herbalism. Time to make some soap, Stephanie!
Hum – Painting by Stephanie Bird on Mishkalo.
Asparagus – Painting by Stephanie Bird on Mishkalo.
Painting by artist Stephanie Bird.