# 5127 Painting

Artist Biodata: Ed Owen It was my grandmother who lit the initial fire for art. From small beginnings of learning to draw as my grandmother's student, I have continued to dabbled in art my whole life. Experimenting with oils, acrylics, graphite and colored pencils, it wasn't until I turned 80 that art became my passion. It was a good friend of mine who is a world famous artist and sculptor, who reignited my interest. He invited me to his studio to share his painting technique. He prepared a board and some oils, and one session turned into another and I came to realized art was something I really enjoyed doing. At first I continued working with oils, but was dissatisfied with the results. It became important to create a painting technique that offered more control and merging of colors. After a lot of research and experimentation, I developed my unique method of painting. Finally comfortable with the results, I was persuaded to enter two paintings into a juried art show in 2014. To my great astonishment, both paintings won awards– Celestial Seashore took Best in Show and First Place, and the other painting received Second Place. I was overwhelmed with joy that my work was so appreciated. My art is best termed Impressionistic Expressionism and is a study of the harmony of contrasts. And many of the pieces have spiritual undertones. Each painting starts with color experimentation and is inspired by music and reflective thinking. Art as a study of the harmony of contrasts.