Craig Kosak

         

 

 

Harvest
oil on canvas  40x26  $3,200

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moonhover 1
oil on canvas  24x24   $1,700

 

 

 

 

 

Orvieto Pine
oil on canvas  26x40  $3,200

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change
oil on canvas  40x26 $3,200

 

 

 

 

 

Spring
oil on canvas  24x42  $3,200

 

 

 

 

 

Bloom
oil on canvas  40x28  SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raven and Buffalo 3
oil on canvas  24x24   SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

Testing
oil on canvas  40x28   SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Palatine Vista - study
oil on canvas  18x10  SOLD
 

 

 

 

 

 

Corvus Italia - study
oil on canvas  18x10  SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

Corvus Italia
oil on canvas  40x22  $2,900

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change Study
oil on canvas  10x10  SOLD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craig Kosak
 

My work is inspired by the wildlife and landscapes I encounter while traveling. The most compelling images find me in the most unexpected ways, and I count on chance encounters and emotional connections - the way we find the loves in our lives - to provide the subject matter for my work.  My paintings include images from several trips: Italy, where I was captivated by the trees.  And Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons where I encountered buffaloes and ravens - motifs that continue in my most recent paintings.  Now, I’ve just completed a trip hiking Arches National Park in Southern Utah.  Ideas are brewing.  The images I produce from these trips are unplanned. They are a response to my emotional experience rather than faithfully documenting a location. The energy of these places, of these encounters, and the soul searching that ensues, is what I aim to share.  

A theme found in most of my work is the search for balance between our inner and outer world. In the outer world we see realism – recognizable objects and beings.  The inner world is emotive, abstract, and mysterious.  The animals in my paintings, raven in particular, serve as guides from the outer world to the inner world. Tempting, encouraging and instigating an exploration into places we have hidden, even from ourselves.  These paintings explore that place, shining light into the darkness and finding beauty there. Objects from the outer world appear in the inner world, as they do in dreams, symbolically connecting both worlds. As I’ve done this work I’ve found a new balance and wholeness in my life. That energy goes into these paintings. Ultimately, my work is about personal growth, compassion, acceptance, and the joy that comes from sharing our true selves with the world.     

Though most of my inspiration is internal and experiential, other influences are inevitable.  Stylistically, my work is grounded in realism, inspired by the graphic and iconic images of painters such as N.C. Wyeth and the landscapes and cloudscapes of Maxfield Parrish. The atmospheric aesthetic of Russell Chatham and the Hudson River painters often finds its way in to my work.  But my desire to express emotion and to explore our unseen inner world calls me to integrate the bold expressive colors, shapes and mark-making found in contemporary abstraction.  Edge ribbons serve compositional and emotive functions as well as providing archeological insight into the color history of the painting.  Fusing these elements in a way that conveys the emotion found in both our outer and inner worlds is the driving force behind each of my paintings.

 

 

 

 

Steve Barakatt - Eternity [영원]