Celeste Novak
Watercolor artist based in Northern Virginia
ABOUT
Celeste Novak is a visual artist, writer, and architect living in the woods in Northern Virginia. Painting and drawing since childhood, her first fine arts degree grounded her in the work of abstract expressionism, color theory, Eastern Art, and mysticism. She has a B.A in art from the College of St. Benedict and a BSArch and March from the University of Michigan. Her art and architectural designs are generated from observations of how humans, structure, color, sound, light, and the natural world converge and celebrate life. Her passion for environmental design is evident throughout her architectural career, earning the prestigious Fellowship in the American Institute of Architects. As an adjunct professor she taught design and sustainability at several Michigan universities as well as lecturing and teaching in China. This opportunity allowed her to expand her knowledge of Eastern art, which she had absorbed as a child in the Detroit Institute of Art’s massive Asian collections. Her art springs from her experiences as a writer, architect, and explorer of the natural world.
Celeste was born in Michigan and finds nature and the Great Lakes a continual source of inspiration. She chooses watercolor as a medium because of its transparency and fluidity. The immediacy of watercolor reflects changes in the natural world which are both permanent and ephemeral. The motion of water, the sound of music, and the transformation of words on a page into poetry and storytelling have influenced her recent work. Celeste’s work has been exhibited or been in publications in Chicago, Minnesota, Detroit, and in private collections.
ARTIST STATEMENT
I paint to share the joy I see through art, in nature and life. My work begins with walks and observations of the world around me. I photograph water, shadows, rocks, leaves, sidewalk patterns, and building textures. The disintegration and convergence of natural and urban forms inspire me. I listen to music and birdsong, seeking inspiration in the patterns of language. I usually begin each work with markings, splashed, stenciled, scraped, and spattered with masking fluid. These gestures preserve the reality of the surface of the paper. I continue my dialog with my work with washes that flow into each other and marks using a variety of tools, brushes, feathers, leaves, and my hands. I paint in watercolor to participate in the transcendence of parchment and stained water into a visual conversation. I believe that art is active meditation, a freedom to explore new neural pathways of the brain.
Website: https://www.celestenovakstudio.com/
Instagram: @celest.novak