Featured Artist Wanda Ann Kinnaman

Artist Wanda Ann Kinnaman creates paintings that portray the wildlife and wide open spaces of the Smoky Mountains. See more of her art by visiting her website.

 

 

Open spaces and quiet places best describe my work and process. I seek to make connections in the created world through exploring spaces and places of nature. These are often juxtaposed with imagery of manmade structures to help evoke memories and tell stories.

 

 

I strive to create work that offers ideas of solitude, isolation and healing. I connect pockets of nature’s beauty to encourage viewers to look beyond the noise and busyness of daily life. As I explore and experiment with these concepts, I desire others to experience my findings. I want you to see beyond the literal to learn new ways of understanding and embracing life.

 

 

If we go beyond looking and dig deeper, we can see into and experience connections to the created world. These connections are made not only in the mystery of places found on the roads less traveled, but also to those so familiar they are often overlooked.

 

 

My studio is located in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Inspiration is literally outside of my door. Each artwork and series begin as I photograph or sketch with my mostly patient companion—my Great Dane called Ezekiel. Together we explore places off the beaten path to find the hidden gems of quiet places and spaces found in the middle of surrounding chaos.

 

 

Armed with my ideas, photographs, sketches and experiences, I work in the studio researching and pushing it all further into the infinite digital abyss. This is where I create intricate digital composites inspired through my findings.

 

 

These newly created places often translate into fully hand painted digital paintings. My process allows me to create a greater mystery. I weave traditional media through painted layers of encaustic wax to transform the imagery into a mixed media work.

 

 

Layers of encaustic wax are hand painted over the original digitally created and archival printed work of art. The wax layers are fused and often oil pigments, ephemera or other media are encased within the wax. This enhances and transforms the work with a dreamlike depth. It lends a deeper meaning of layered contemplations, resulting in a one-of-a-kind original mixed media encaustic that can’t be duplicated.

 

 

Whether in an open space or a quiet place, all my work is inspired by nature. Most are in series. Some of my work focuses on the flora and fauna of the Smoky Mountains. It features the beauty of the native plants and wildflowers along with the majestic elk, wild turkeys, and playful bears.

 

 

Other work includes my most extensive body of work, the Nowhere Series. This series explores the connection of nature and humans within the classic Americana landscape.

 

 

My work often suggests a sense of isolation. The imagery and toning of mostly open spaces and places offers a quietness and room for reflection in the shared space of the nature that inspired it.

 

Artist Wanda Ann Kinnaman invites you to follow her on Instagram.

 

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