Phil Schirmer
Phil Schirmer was born in Newton, Massachusetts in 1952. Though he majored
in English Literature in college, art had been his passion since childhood
and he returned to it shortly after graduation. Initially a watercolorist,
he switched to egg tempera in the early 1980s. He enjoys the whole process
of tempera - from the traditional gessoing (which most tempera painters
hate) and the reckless, serendipitous generation of ideas, to the slow,
careful application of layers of paint. After twenty years, his excitement
in seeing a painting gradually come into focus remains undiminished. He is
aware, however, that his eyeglasses are getting thicker every year.
A recurrent theme in his work has been to contrast opposites: trees versus rocks; organic versus inorganic; soft versus hard. He also has a fondness for images of silence and tranquility, probably because he grew up with seven sisters and brothers, dogs, cats, gerbils, etc.
He finds the textural effects and muted colors of tempera are perfectly suited to his subject material.
He has exhibited extensively in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine. His paintings are in private collections from New York to California. He currently lives on the coast of Maine and teaches egg tempera at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, Maine.
"Morning After" |
"Three Left" |
"White Antenna" |
"Little Green" |