Woman In Blue Painting

Mixed media on canvas Gebhardt Egos, competition, unsolicited opinions — two artists under one roof, how is that possible? Decades of life lessons and experiences are visually rendered by husband and wife, large-format, mixed-media artists — peacefully. Kris and Angela Gebhardt’s pieces don’t just hang on walls, they dominate spaces. These artists make declarations that stop individuals and start conversations. The Gebhardts don’t collaborate and rarely share opinions about projects in progress, or otherwise. While they both use a variety of the same materials to create their art, what they produce is distinctly different from each other, and their peers. Hers Only Angela knows what truly stimulates her creativity. She expresses emotions in colors and shapes that hush, delight and excite. They are pretty and pleasing. Every stroke of paint, letter or note is organized until perfect. Images, numbers and words are tattooed and layered in acrylic, charcoal, oil, chalk, graphite, paper and more — to form her “auto-paint-ographies” — telling a story that will remain forever hers. Angela’s intensely personal style attracts patrons from around the world. They know her pain and sadness. Revel in her joy. Bask in her warmth. His Kris’ efforts are gritty — both literally and figuratively — gray and layered, his subjects are centrally placed over a finessed background. Early on he would engineer what was available on which to create — thus forming his style. Beat up surface is home to a beat down subject with distressed frame. Used cardboard, worn and tattered tarps stapled to one-by-fours, boxes and dismantled furniture are just a few of the starting points for a Kris Gebhardt “paintumentary.” Each the story of an actual person, the archetype of a being or Kris himself. His inspiration comes from the Greatest Generation, friends, employers and his own pre-artistic career. Gebhardt is proficient at portraying Every Man and his struggles.