CRAIG TRAPP
Hello All!
We have experienced incredible, dynamic weather this winter season. The waves of storms moving through coastal California since late last year have kept the surrounding hills vibrant green, creeks and waterfalls full, and inspired me to paint a series of Springscapes. As my work is spontaneous and expressionistic, the paintings are not “of” any particular place, although some remind me of places I have visited. These paintings highlight nature’s reengagement after the darker, shorter days of winter, and its manifest creativity in the cycle of life. Springscapes celebrate this reawakening with color, highlights, and shadows in glorious harmony; taking the viewer on an expressionist tour of coastal California. I hope you enjoy them.
Paint with Purpose, Passion, and Joy!
Craig
Featured
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Abstract Sketches 2304,5,6, triptych. 20x10x1.5 acrylic on paper, on panel, $275.
Sets
Pears # 2329, 30,31
triptych. 20x10x1.5 acrylic on paper, on panel, $275.
Permanent Display, Allan Hancock College, Santa Maria, CA. USA
Thank You for Visiting Craig Trapp Art
A California resident for over 40 years, I am an intuitive acrylic painter of abstract expressionism. Born in 1957 in Allentown Pennsylvania, I was the middle of 3 children.
My youth was primarily spent out of doors. Long days were spent hiking the woods and climbing giant rocks left by ancient glaciers. I collected arrowheads and fossils, identified trees, and loved fishing for native Brookies in the nearby cow pasture stream. During these times I observed. I learned about nature’s cycles and patterns. And I learned about stillness. Most importantly, I learned we that we are part of nature, not separate from it. Little would I know these early years created a sensitivity in me that would someday become essential to my art.
When I was 38, home due to a work injury, I discovered my inner Artist. Initially drawing with black, white, and gray pastels, I learned the relationships between warm and cool, darks and lights, and the significance of shadows. I started painting with acrylics, and soon felt the desire to paint seriously.
My perfectionism first directed me toward realism, but realism soon felt restrictive. I wanted to express, not illustrate. I wanted to enhance our shared experiences through emotion. I wanted others to feel what I felt, and to stimulate their memories, dreams, and emotions when viewing my work. I wanted viewers to feel awe, and the connection to something greater than our understanding,
When I discovered Abstract Expressionism, I knew I had found my home. Pollock, Rauschenberg, Diebenkorn! The passion! These painters painted their guts onto the canvas. Their art felt honest, spiritual, intuitive. At last, this was my kind of painting!
"Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy to creativity. It’s self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t “try” to do things. You simply “must” do things. --Ray Bradbury
How It All Started
