George Schaub

This “Herculaneum” series is based on photographs taken in early 2024 at the excavations in that haunted resort town that suffered the same fate as Pompeii. I chose select pieces of wall murals and other designs that caught my eye. As I worked, I became more aware of abstractions that caught the mood and spirit of the area. Back in my studio, I used an array of dry media to enhance and emphasize the figures and shapes and tell their story.

For the past several years I have been printing my original photographs on archival paper which I then “work” with pastels, chalk, charcoal, metallic pencil, and other media. I use the base image as a springboard to abstract interpretation, often with a liberal hand, or work to enhance the sense of place using colors and contrasts that are beyond the camera’s ability to capture.

 Recent display of this style of work has been at two exhibits at the Lyme Art Association; two at the Guilford Free Library; and, in Taos, NM, at the Blumenschein Studio and Museum, the Taos Artist Combo at the Taos Center for the Arts, and the magpie Gallery in Taos, NM, where my pastel on print work of the Southwest is on permanent display.