Confluence Gallery Winter/Spring Artist in Residence Margaret Kingston!

 

Confluence Gallery Artist in Residence Margaret Kingston!

Confluence Gallery and Art Center welcomes Artist Margaret Kingston as our Winter/Spring Artist in Residence! Margaret’s new art studio is on the second floor of Confluence Gallery. During her three month residency, Margaret will create a body of work that will be exhibited in the gallery gift shop April 23 – May 4, 2016.

Margaret Kingston creates luscious oil paintings that you might mistake for photographs. Often featuring snowy basins, backcountry skiers, and white-capped peaks, the paintings capture a startlingly realistic representation of the snow’s texture, the shadows, and the sunlight of the scenes.

Margaret’s passion for painting landscapes has grown now that she lives in the Methow Valley, a place she describes as having “breathtaking beauty”. Margaret tends to focus on light and capturing the moment. Using a photo she takes on her adventures, she crops the composition, prints it, and uses it as reference as she starts building up the layers of a painting. It is a process that takes many hours. The finish is often as rewarding as the adventure itself.

Margaret describes her style as realistic, but, she endeavors to turn up the atmosphere and the emotion of the painting. She wants the viewer to feel like they are there. “I try to play up the atmosphere and feelings that occur from the image,” says Kingston. “I’m trying to capture the breathtaking moment of beauty that I think most people can relate to during an experience in the mountains.”

Margaret and her partner, Jonathan, were drawn to the beauty of those mountains from their home in New England and relocated to the Methow Valley in 2012. They appreciate this uniquely creative community full of interesting people who have welcomed and encouraged both of them to share their creativity

In addition to practicing her own art, Margaret is a state-certified K-12 visual arts teacher. She draws from that curriculum in her work as a teaching artist for Methow Arts’ Artist-in-Residence program and the Summer Art Camps for Confluence Gallery. Margaret is passionate about the importance of art education. She believes the arts teach lifelong skills, different ways of thinking, problem-solving abilities, and a chance to express oneself.

We are excited to see the body of work Margaret will create during her residency here at Confluence Gallery and Art Center. Please help us welcome Margaret as the Winter/Spring Artist in Residence!

See more of Margarets work on her Website: http://mgtkingston.wix.com/mkoilpainting

Confluence Gallery thanks Ashley Lodoto, Methow Arts Education Director, for use of text and photo for this article. www.methowarts.org