Renate Roske-Shelton: Resilience
Opening Reception, Friday, June 3, 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Solo exhibition of Spirited Abstract Paintings
Through her artwork, Renate Roske-Shelton discovers and records moments of insight and beauty into Life’s meaning and purpose. She now resides in Charlotte County in her Studio in Back Bay and is largely self-taught.
Her artistic journey began in childhood when art was always included in the German School curriculum and going to museums, libraries, and exhibitions were encouraged. Although she felt the joy of art-making growing up, her career path took her to Human Factors in Engineering Design and Science Research fields in which she worked for many years until retirement in the US.
Throughout her working career, she took numerous art workshops on her own time for balance and recreation and thus continued her skill-building. From painting Watercolors in Plein Air, Portrait Oils and Pastels, Charcoal from Life Models, Renate continued to Acrylic painting. She developed her own signature representational style that she called impressionistic pop.
After she made her home in the Maritimes, Renate spent full-time painting the surrounding landscapes. Here she continued her art education by joining classes and participating in in-person or virtual workshops.
Her work now and particularly with the advent of the pandemic has evolved into a more personal and authentic artist practice, where her paintings show abstraction in an expressionistic story-telling form. Her interests in mark-making, symbolism and passionate design work play together with her expertise in Cognitive Psychology. This combination of “mind and matter” has brought her to her latest work showcased in the current exhibit: “Resilience”.
Painting helps Renate record an unfolding of emotional memories, wisdom and re-discovery of nature. RENATE by name and artistic mission stands for Re-Invention, Re-pair, and Re-Birth, and she has evolved into a voice of sharing her insights freely.
Her paintings are lively and colourful in their own unique style reflecting Renate’s approach to managing the interplay of cultured, industrial, and/or natural complexity.
Renate paints from life and photographic references but also from emotion and contemplation. Her paintings and her mind’s eye are theatre-like stages representing the discovery of life and meaning.
Recurring themes in her artwork are Nested Architecture and Symbolism which allude to a yearning for Community and Belonging. She also frequently employs high contrast edge work to overlay or direct the viewer’s eye to imaginary but significant tracks as evidence of life and story.
