For many of us the pandemic has been a time of frustrating isolation, misery and mental stagnation.
For St. Helena artist Clare Kirkconnell, it’s been liberating.
“As the world got more intense the last couple of years, I lightened up. That gave me a lot of freedom in the studio,” said Kirkconnell, whose paintings are on exhibit at San Francisco’s Berggruen Gallery through Saturday, Aug. 27.
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When the pandemic began, Kirkconnell exchanged her morning visits to the health club for sunrise walks with her husband, Doug Barr. She was inspired by the sight of dewy spider webs and the general resilience of nature during difficult times.
“Bringing those (outdoor) experiences into the studio helped me stay mentally healthy,” Kirkconnell said. “It helped me realize that through thick and thin, nature is always beautiful. It prevails.”
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She added texture to her spider web paintings by sewing glass beads onto the canvas. The beads mimic the way dewdrops catch the morning light, she said.
A few paintings are of particular interest to the Upvalley. One, which depicts a pile of pruned vines, has gotten a surprising number of compliments, Kirkconnell said.
“I thought, ‘Who’s going to be interested in a pile of sticks?’” she said. “But at the opening it got more positive comments about this painting than any of the others.”
Another painting features a burned hillside near Glass Mountain Road, not far from Kirkconnell’s studio. The trees are reduced to vertical sticks, but the green grass beneath them and the blue sky above point to the possibility of renewal.
Kirkconnell’s recent work is also influenced by several milestones in her life: her mother’s death, her son’s wedding in an intimate backyard ceremony, and the death of Gretchen Berggruen, the wife of gallerist John Berggruen.
“These paintings are like diary entries,” Kirkconnell said. “The sorrows and the joy — it’s all in the show.”
"Clare Kirkconnell: Inside Out" is Kirkconnell’s fifth show at Berggruen Gallery, which is at 10 Hawthorne St. in San Francisco. Go to berggruen.com for more information.
Take a stroll past 10 artworks adorning Napa's open-air gallery in the downtown area and the Oxbow district.
Photos: Reviving Mexico's groundbreaking muralism a century later
Visitors look at the “Dream of a Sunday afternoon in Alameda Central Park” mural by Mexican artist Diego Rivera at the Diego Rivera Mural Museum, in Mexico City, Sunday, June 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican mural artist Janet Calderon paints a mural in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. The mural in progress is on three walls of a municipal building in San Salvador, a small town of about 29,000 people north of Mexico City in Hidalgo state. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
A pedestrian rides her bike in front of a mural painted by Mexican artist Jesus Rodriguez, in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. Artists helping to revive muralism or visual imagery to share messages of social and political importance, a movement that put Mexico at the vanguard of art a century ago. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican artist Jesus Rodriguez, right, instructs Luis Manuel Velez, during a painting session in front of a mural Rodriguez is painting on the facade of an auditorium in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Artist Luz Asturizaga takes a break at the Siqueiros School in Poxindeje, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. The school is based in a converted elementary school, and one of its co-founders is Jesús Rodríguez Arévalo, a pupil of disciples of Mexico’s three muralism masters: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco. Asturizaga, a 36-year-old sculptor from Bolivia, says she has enjoyed every moment of her stay in the iconic home of muralism. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican artist Jesus Rodriguez paints the finishing touches on a mural he is painting on the facade of an auditorium in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. Rodriguez is a co-founder of the Siqueiros School of Muralism whose teachers and students are on a mission to keep alive the practice of using visual imagery to share messages of social and political importance. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
“The new democracy” mural by Mexican artist David Alfaro Siqueiros is displayed in the Palacio Bellas Artes, in Mexico City, Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022. The 88-year-old palatial art nouveau performing arts center's interior walls are graced with famous murals by Siqueiros, Diego Rivera and Jose Clemente Orozco. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican mural artist Janet Calderon paints on the facade of a municipal building in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. Calderon is part of a group of artists helping to revive muralism, a movement that put Mexico at the vanguard of art a century ago. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican artist Janet Calderon prepares to work on a mural she is helping to paint in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. The mural in progress is on three walls of a municipal building in San Salvador, a small town of about 29,000 people north of Mexico City in Hidalgo state. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican artist Jesus Rodriguez explains the significance of a mural painted on the facade of an auditorium in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. Teachers and students of the Siqueiros School of Muralism are on a mission to keep alive the practice of using visual imagery to share messages of social and political importance. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican artist Luis Manuel Velez retouches a mural painted on the facade of a municipal building in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. Murals being created in San Salvador and other small towns today have much in common with those created in the early 20th century: They encapsulate themes of war, injustice, and oppression — as well as 21st century issues such as climate change and violence against women. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican artist Janet Calderon balances on scaffolding while painting a mural in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. The mural in progress is on three walls of a municipal building in San Salvador, a small town of about 29,000 people north of Mexico City in Hidalgo state. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Mexican artist Jesus Rodriguez places the finishing touches on a mural he is painting on the facade of an auditorium in San Salvador, Mexico, Saturday, July 30, 2022. Rodriguez is a co-founder of the Siqueiros School of Muralism whose teachers and students are on a mission to keep alive the practice of using visual imagery to share messages of social and political importance. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
You can reach Jesse Duarte at (707) 967-6803 or jduarte@sthelenastar.com.
Jesse Duarte
St. Helena Editor
Jesse has been a reporter for the St. Helena Star since 2006. He became editor in 2021.
