Jacqueline Stehelin

Painting, for Jacqueline, is simply the business of giving life to the objects, concerns and events of her life. She has no major philosophical axe to grind, no particular technical preference, and few leanings regarding style. The artistic validity of her product stems from the directness and the honest eclecticism of her approach. In the process of painting and drawing, everything becomes subservient to the objects and events of her life, which are the subject and purpose of her art.

The excellence in Jacqueline's work is arrived at through "back doors". Although she has a well-developed sense of color and design, the poignant quality of her images is a product of her state of mind, her subconscious attitude towards things around her, rather than the deliberate use of any artistic convention or practiced mannerism. Her sense of humor juxtaposed to her sense of wonder and love for things around her, is the birthplace of her artistic individuality. There is an "edge" to her work that is a by-product of ideas crossing over and trading off in each other.

One would have difficulty in relating Jacqueline's work to much of what is presently occurring in Alberta, and certainly in Edmonton, where it is most evident that she is working against the tide of select artistic norms. Her work is not born out of local expressive trends or locally-practised mannerisms. It comes instead from a basic desire to record and interpret the things and events in her life, a long apprenticeship of developing the means of speaking directly in visual terms, and no-nonsense approach to the use of media. Being very much herself, she stands somewhat alone in relation to her artistic peers. Lacking the credentials usually associated with local artistic prominence, she stubbornly demands that her creative worth be determined by her artistic ideas and her artistic ideas are available only on her terms.

Still Life Series #5 - 2001
mixed media on paper, 23 in x 34 1/2 in