Stephen St. Claire has created a unique technique by first sculpting the composition onto the canvas with layers of modeling compound and gesso, then carefully covering the entire surface with Italian aluminum leaf. Oil paint is then applied to the metal, and each piece is finished with several layers of solar-resistant resin or archival satin varnish which gives the piece a soft, satin finish.
What inspires Stephen comes from hiking in the western North Caolina mountains on his days off, hiking with his wife Joy. Some days they might take a short hike up to Craggy Gardens or along the Laurel River, or they might for several hours visiting and viewing some of the waterfalls or awesome viewpoints in Pisgah Forest or the nearby Smoky Mountains National Park. When Stephen is hiking, he is breathing in the beauty of his surroundings and these hikes among the splendor of the mountains inspire him to create pieces that bring those feeling indoors for us all to enjoy.
Stephen grew up painting mostly landscapes and still life’s but around 2001, he began experimenting with painting on metallic leaf, and a new painting genre was created. This technique is called Dialuminism, which means light passing through. Stephen embeds metallic leaf and multiple thin layers of oil paint within a coating of solar resistant resin. Because Stephen is painting on a metallic surface the light reflects off the metal and illuminates the paint layers from the back. This makes for very intense color. Light plays off some areas and casts shadows beneath others, creating a dimensional painting that changes in appearance depending upon where the viewer is standing in relation to the light source.
Stephen began using this technique painting mostly abstract pieces but over the years, as the technique has morphed, he began painting more abstracted landscape scenes which led eventually to the more realistic landscape scenes he creates today. Stephen’s subject matter tends to be either generic scenes or scenes depicting different times of day and different locations from the general Western North Carolina mountains.
Stephen’s goal with each landscape oil painting is to depict a "sacred space", a very unique geographical place, whether real or imagined that will elicit a sense of quiet awe or reverence. Not all places evoke that feeling of reverence, but he knows when is walking through the woods and has felt it. When the hairs on the back of your neck tell you this place is special, where you pause to drink it all in. These are the places that Stephen puts in his oil painting’s.
All the elements working together to create that sacred space, where the lighting, the color, the contrast and they come together, to create a complex composition. Stephen loves to see the viewer stop to contemplate one of his pieces or to wonder where the path goes. These pieces that elicit that response Stepehen considers a success.
All of Stephens’ landscape oil paintings are created at his gallery and studio River Arts District in Asheville North Caolina. Come to Studio Seven Arts to see them in person, Stephen’s pieces have a depth and texture that can really be appreciated when you see them in person.
