The perfect balance of light and shadow is sometimes what makes a painting feel so real and intimate. The interplay between the two holds so much power within a work. The way light strikes across water, or the way shadows loom over pavement, derives a version of the world that only artists can see. In her solo exhibition, Light and Shadow,artist Andrea Almond explores this duality with layered and multifaceted themes, creating floral still lifes and urban landscapes in a voice so uniquely her own it demands to be heard.
Shadows and Stems, oil on linen, 20 x 20"
Painting runs in Almond’s DNA. She grew up watching her father paint in their garage on the weekends. Early on she knew she shared that same passion. She continued to grow more in love with art and pursued a fine art degree at the University of North Texas. While maintaining a successful corporate career, she made time to take artists workshops, and spent many years painting in plein air, building her foundation of observational and drawing skills.
Two Trees Plus Pink, oil on canvas, 24 x 24"
In the 2010s, Almond moved to San Antonio and began painting full time. She joined Art Gallery Prudencia in 2022. She realized she wanted to paint observational art, zoning in on the many possibilities floral still life provided as a subject. Using bouquets from the grocery store for reference, she was able to find ways to marry light and shadow in an unconventional and introspective way.
“Almond’s works possess a heightened luminosity,” says gallery owner Prudence Lucas. “An otherworldly radiance washes across her beautiful river paintings and her immense, vacillating skies. Her still life tells the story of light and shadow, the symphonies of color and emotion.”
Her ongoing show features 24 new works that feel almost like a love letter to her obsession with light, color and shadow and how, when woven together, they tell a story that can convey so much more than what is on the canvas.
Disrupt, oil on canvas, 24 x 22"
“I love that there are so many possibilities,” says Almond. “Maybe a third of the floral still lifes were dead flowers, which for me is just a part of the whole cycle. They’re so beautiful, but they’re so fragile. [The blooms] go so fast and yet there is beauty in the end of it.”
Her piece Shadows and Stems encapsulates this duality with a balance of romantic purples and pinks, lost in swirls of gothic darkness, giving a traditional floral piece a dramatic twist with a thickened plotline. Another painting, Disrupt, is her personal favorite as the dead flowers captured the essence of a difficult time. Both paintings imbue darkness with beauty and beauty with darkness.
In addition to her florals, Almond also renders beautiful snapshots of San Antonio. With her urban landscapes, the audience gets to see what she sees, like looking over the San Antonio River in Two Trees Plus Pinkor driving down a city thoroughfare in Claremont Street. Almond shares her unique interpretations of these moments with the viewer, letting them draw from their experiences to create their own narrative.
Claremont Street, oil on canvas, 12 x 12"
Almond goes deeper than pretty flowers in vases or a sunset hanging over the city. She paints ephemeral experiences that break the definition of what these paintings should look like and questions if there should even be a definition at all.
Light and Shadow is on view through May 11, with an artist talk on April 20 at 3 p.m. —
Art Gallery Prudencia 2518 N. Main Avenue • San Antonio, TX 78212 (210) 422-8681 • www.prudenciagallery.com
Powered by Froala Editor
