Miriam Schulman

Celebrate the color of life I am an artist that paints and celebrates the color of life. I do not seek to recreate death in my paintings-- I know that too well.

At five, I stared into a black room filled with sad people I knew. Everyone in my life was there... except for my father. His absence was answered by an explanation I was not yet ready to understand. I have been running from black and sadness ever since.

 

Hope in sadness

My paintings are filled with the colors of joy and harmony. I create art to lift me up and share my lust for life with others in a way that heals the soul. Although color is my subject, I choose to paint landscapes, figures and animals and each serves its purpose. Whether I paint people or peacocks, its personality that moves my paintbrush. Sometimes, their sadness does make its way into my art but I aim to show you that there is something beautiful and hopeful in that sadness as well Personality of a place When I travel, I will sketch with my camera capturing ideas and then create a landscape that will show others what I want them to see. Rarely do I choose the typical tourist postcard scenes. Rather, I focus on the ordinary experience of being on the street with the people and colors. I bring to life the personality of a place. The painting creates a two dimensional escape window to a calmer time and space.

Do I know you?

  Figures and animals- anything with "eyes" -has always been natural for me. I was always the kind of student who might be caught drawing my teachers instead of taking notes. I may have sketched my female teachers, but it is the drawings of my male teachers that I remember the most. I studied their faces so carefully, perhaps looking for the father I never knew. Perhaps his is the soul I seek when I paint animals.  

Non-toxic materials only

You can even link my choice of materials to my father's death. I paint with water based medium such as watercolors or acrylics because I have found them to be the least toxic of all the artist mediums. My mind at ease that I am working with non-toxic materials, I can focus on my art instead of my safety. I watch the colors mix and flow on the paper as I recreate a more beautiful world filled with color, love and tranquility.  

The artist statement

  So when I was asked to write this artist statement to answer not the what but the why. I find it impossible to separate my reasons from my biography. When I paint, I am happy and I feel alive as I watch the colors mix and flow on the paper or canvas to recreate a more beautiful world filled with color, love and tranquility.