Moments Frozen in Time

I enjoy watching people walk up to my watercolors, take a step back, and then move up to the glass to make sure they are paintings, not photographs," says Sheryl Luxenburg. "They have perplexed facial expressions as they scrutinize the pictures to see if they are indeed made with a brush, not a camera. I wait for them to discover the tiny dots of paint that come together as an illusion, as well as the small particles on the surface of the paint that suggest the motion of people, cars, and water.

"That stark realism is very important to my mission of capturing life as it actually is during one specific moment in time," Luxenburg continues. "I spend a lot of time deciding on the time of day, the exact angle to view the scene, the total perspective scope of the picture, and the best combination of animate and inanimate objects. As is the case with Photo Realist art, the scenes may appear arbitrary and detached, but believe me, I put a lot of thought and emotion into my choices of subjects and compositions."

Those choices and the painstaking process by which Luxenburg creates her watercolors are determined by her personality, training, and influences. "I studied both art and psychology in university, and I spent nearly 20 years as a psychotherapist," she explains. "I know myself to be a practical person who tries to accept life as it really exists; the good times and the tough times. I am passionate about becoming immersed in my complicated, time-consuming painting methods, and find the challenge of complexity to be very relaxing. My approach to art is influenced in part by my maternal grandfather, who was an enthusiastic Cubist painter. I've also been inspired by my mentor, the Photo Realist artist Tom Blackwell."

Luxenburg admits that her painting technique is so complex that people often have trouble understanding the various materials and procedures she employs. She finds it best to describe the steps in sequence, explaining the reasons behind each development.

When considering subjects for a series of paintings, for example, Luxenburg spends weeks and months observing the light, drawing possible compositional arrangements, and shooting dozens of photographs. When the optimum conditions are determined, she makes detailed drawings of the subjects on paper. Once the Canadian artist is back in her Ottawa, Ontario, studio, she soaks an oversized sheet of 140-lb cold-pressed paper, tapes it to a board, and allows it to dry completely. She then lightly rules grid lines to guide her as she redraws the subject on the watercolor paper. "Tom Blackwell taught me to draw inanimate objects?especially buildings?upside down so the accuracy of the drawing wouldn't be compromised by my recognition of the subject," she states.

Using a wide assortment of transparent watercolors, Luxenburg takes