Featured Artist: Kim Romero

Shelter Interiors is very happy to have works of art by Westport resident Kim Romero featured in our store this season. Kim's work has added a touch of Spring to our store and we are thrilled to be offering her work to you.

Biography:

Drawing from thirty years of wide-ranging experience in interior design, garden design and food presentation, Kim Romero's natural attraction for the relationships between colors is not surprising. A former student of interior design and previous owner of a catering company, painting has become her logical new focus and discovered talent. For the last couple of years, she has studied at The Silvermine Art Center in New Canaan, CT.

In 2010, her work was represented in Ecclectic Essex, a gallery in Essex, CT, promoting emerging Connecticut artists. Circa Antiques in Westport, CT, carries a small assortment of Kim's paintings and she has been commissioned by private clients in Westport, as well as Vermont, Louisville, KY and Victoria, BC.

Kim paints from her home in Westport, CT. She has lived in town since 1989, with her husband Tom, and has raised twin daughters who are now in college.

Artist Statement:

I have an affinity to make my surroundings pleasing to the eye. My paintings grow out of a visual personal experience, evoking interest and passion that takes me on a journey using paint on canvas. I want to create something for my viewer to be drawn in to. My goal is to not just make their eyes see, but to taste and smell the colors and textures. I feel as if a piece of art should arouse a feeling of intrigue and calm; it should be a complete and absolute moment.

I start by using a large brush and lots of paint. I use colors I feel will tell my story of that moment, applying them all messy and thick or thin and watery. There are shapes that take on the structure and bones at this point. This process gets all the emotion out on the canvas. With each brush stroke or palette knife and with colors taking their places on the canvas next to each other, the painting goes through a transformation, ending where and when I feel an emotional connection and contentment.

Inspired by what I thought may merely be an interesting creative diversion, I first delved into painting as an art form after deciding to take classes near my home in Westport, CT. While the classes helped lay the foundation in terms of basic techniques, I quickly was able to distinguish my attraction to abstract work in acrylics and have been exploring the field ever since.