Today we’d like to introduce you to Alberta Geyer.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
Probably like most artists, I was drawn to art at a young age. In high school, I took every art class available. But it was oil painting that captured my heart. I wanted to paint like the old masters in a representational style but this training was not to be found in any college art department. I took a still life class at the Arts Student League in NYC. I then found my way to one of the instructors’ private studio. A move to New Hampshire brought me to a classical atelier, the Ingbretson Studios in Manchester (now Lawrence, MA), where I spent 4 1/2 years. Paul Ingbretson teaches a style known as “The Boston School,” which emerged in Boston at the turn of the 20th century. The academic training there focused on learning accurate drawing, developing form, understanding values, and color relationships. I learned to see. Good picture design and composition were also emphasized. The time I spent there was invaluable to my development as an artist. Since leaving, I continue to hone my skills by taking workshops from time to time in still life and portraiture at the Village Arts of Putney in Vermont. What I am learning there enhances and complements the foundation of my previous training.
Please tell us about your art.
With my painting, I hope to create something beautiful. It’s as simple as that, but not an easy task. My goal with each painting is to convey the beauty of the particular subject matter by capturing the light as it hits the subject revealing curves and roundness or sharp edges and hardness, color changing at every turn. The most mundane of objects can express beauty if the light dancing on and around it can e visualized and expressed. Beauty is all around us. People have busy lives; they’re worried about their kids or paying the mortgage and maybe don’t have time to “smell the roses.” Looking at a beautiful painting can give them that moment, show them something they didn’t notice before. Sure, I paint for me because it’s what i’m driven to do, but ultimately, I paint for the viewer. I hope people are uplifted when viewing my work. Maybe they now notice how the light glints off a glass, or brass bowl; how it curves around a young woman’s cheek or sparkles in the eye of a dog. I want the viewer to feel as if they can reach in and touch that leaf or apple; that there is another world beyond the surface of the canvas, or glimpsed beauty – if only for a moment. Hopefully, sometimes I succeed.
Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial concerns?
I have no advice to offer in this regard.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My work can be seen at The Guild of Boston Artists on Newbury St., Boston. The Guild was established in 1914 to be an artist owned and operated gallery by the founders of the Boston School tradition of painting that included Edmund Tarbell, Frank Benson, Lilian Westcott Hale and many other exceptional painters of the day. My work can also be seen at the Hearle Gallery on Main St. in Chatham, MA; and at the Framer’s Market in Manchester, NH.
Contact Info:
- Address: 8 Erik St.,
Merrimack, NH 03054 - Website: www.albertageyer.com
- Phone: 603-883-9240
- Email: alberta@comcast.net
- Instagram: alberta_geyer_art
- Facebook: Alberta Geyer, Artist
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