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Rebecca Klementovich

     One of the first abstract artists to show at Harvest Gold, Klementovich seeks to introduce a new color palette and style of painting to New England that can challenge the hold that traditional schools have on the region. Her bright colors and the motion that can be seen through her strong brush strokes seek to represent the natural rhythm and vibrancy that can be seen in the mountains and trees all around us.

        Klementovich began working in abstract art after graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City with a degree in Fine Art.  A lifelong lover of dance and motion, Klementovich believes that painting is just as much about the physical movement and process of creating the art as it is about enjoying the final product. She loves the feel of paint spreading beneath her brush, and feeling the wind rustle through her hair as she sets up her easel outdoors.  Her work is vibrant and textured to capture the layers of colors that one can see in the world all around.

        “There is a small thrill, I admit in the state motto of New Hampshire, ‘Live Free or Die.’ To some degree it gives me permission to expand my color palette in representing the mountains, to paint beyond green, brown, and blue skies, to go deeper, to see the layers. The visual state treasure, the alpine glow on the mountain ranges, shows the complexity of the purple mountain majesty which has twenty two variations of purple in it,” Klementovich says. “The mountains deserve at least 20 colors of purple.”

        Klementovich is a member of the ‘Femme Fatales of the North,’ a group of painters and photographers who seek to challenge traditional artistic notions that have become grounded and commonplace in the northeast. New England, New Hampshire in particular with its views of Mt. Washington, is a deeply artistic community. Artists have been coming here for centuries to capture the beauty of the mountains and gorges. And, entrenched in that school of traditional, classical, realistic art are gender inequalities that have become the accepted norm for the art community today.

        Female artists make up a tiny percentage of artists selling well in galleries and shops throughout the area, and Klementovich argues that that is because the general populace commonly associates ‘good’ art with traditionalist schools like the White Mountain School of Art, and subconsciously with men only. By painting with loud, vivid colors, along with painting and showing in outdoor locations that many people feel more comfortable in than a traditional gallery space, Klementovich and the Femme Fatales seek to capture the attention of the public and encourage other women to pursue their passions.

        “We’re not really trying to display ourselves but to become more like iconic figures so that other women can be encouraged to do something even further beyond what we’re doing,” Klementovich says. “We’re just trying to start a conversation: What are women painters in the north about? I think by documenting our endeavors we are bringing more awareness and hopefully opening the doors and inspiring other women to do what they’re passionate about and push the boundary for something different.”