sydney mckenna
Sydney McKenna
Category | Medium
Painting | Oil, Watercolor
Country
USA
Artist website
www.sydneymckenna.com
Artist email
sydney@sydneymckenna.com
Painting | Oil, Watercolor
Country
USA
Artist website
www.sydneymckenna.com
Artist email
sydney@sydneymckenna.com
artist profile
Born in Santa Monica, California in 1953, Sydney has called Florida her home since age 11. She began her painting career in the Sarasota area in the mid-eighties as a mostly self-taught watercolor artist and gained quick success, winning awards and exhibiting in Sarasota Art Galleries. She switched to oil painting in 1996.
Sydney was chosen as the poster artist for the Anna Maria Festival of Fine Arts in 1989, and has been featured on the cover of numerous magazines, including “Florida Living Magazine” July, 1992 issue.
Sydney was chosen as the poster artist for the Anna Maria Festival of Fine Arts in 1989, and has been featured on the cover of numerous magazines, including “Florida Living Magazine” July, 1992 issue.
my painting style
"I have been painting with oils now for about 16 years, after making a transition from watercolor. I use the classic oil painting techniques of building up thin layers of paint using linseed oil as my only medium. I like the idea of unifying classical technique with somewhat contemporary imagery.
I like to explore the humid atmosphere that is one of the key elements that define life in Florida, and I am fascinated with evaporation in general. Over the years of painting clouds I have grown to see quite a bit of symbolism in the water cycle. The fact that it can transform itself, rise into the heavens and move around the world through the skies, is somewhat miraculous; as if the clouds are the ‘spirit form’ of water. They have come to remind me of the spark of life; a lifting of the physical, into the spiritual. I also find that in studying clouds and striving to paint their ephemeral nature, I connect more to my own spirituality."
I like to explore the humid atmosphere that is one of the key elements that define life in Florida, and I am fascinated with evaporation in general. Over the years of painting clouds I have grown to see quite a bit of symbolism in the water cycle. The fact that it can transform itself, rise into the heavens and move around the world through the skies, is somewhat miraculous; as if the clouds are the ‘spirit form’ of water. They have come to remind me of the spark of life; a lifting of the physical, into the spiritual. I also find that in studying clouds and striving to paint their ephemeral nature, I connect more to my own spirituality."
