"Christmas Eve" Painting

Stephen Harkola is Rochester NY based figurative, landscape and abstract painter. He uses a variety of mediums including oil, acrylic, water color and charcoal. Believing his figurative work and landscape/abstract painting are synergistic, he works progressive series in each. He has produced a large body of large format oil and acrylic figurative work, using local models, transforming them into larger than life “Heroine” with thematic backgrounds. At the same time, he continues to create abstract landscapes focused on basic elements of times past: Earth, Water, Air and Fire. All his work tends to be high contrast, high color and fluid - ranging from highly representational detail works to borderline abstraction. “While I use a camera in all phases of his artwork, something better happens when I paint - I become intimate with the subject through engagement, which leads to inspiration. My goal is to trigger something more primitive in the viewer, maybe jump start their imaginations which have been drugged by digital sensory overload. While it’s tempting to create decorative art, my path forward will focus on bringing attention to sustainability and nature-inspired works in the landscape space and figure work for auctions supporting charitable causes.”