Local artist Siv Lavell, a first generation Norwegian American, considers herself lucky to have called the Northwest home for most of her life.

She describes her work as loose, uninhibited and “more about feeling than detail.” She says her inspiration comes from nature, reading and listening to books, or things she notices when taking her dog for a walk.

"Whole Again" by Siv Lavell.

Siv will display her art in a series called “Energy in Nature” at Blakely Hall throughout the month of May. You can meet the artist during a reception on Saturday, May 18, from 12–2 p.m.

She says part of her gallery show will reflect on the inner dialog within each of us and the patterns of our daily lives as well as the moment of clarity when we slow down and get in touch with nature.

“I chose to symbolize those patterns in these pieces with an undercurrent of energy reflected in various degrees of form, pattern or a strong analogous color,” she adds.

Siv didn’t start painting much until she developed her skills at the Art Institute of Seattle, where she graduated with a focus in Illustration and Communication Arts. She says her skills in layout and composition, color theory and typography have been helpful in creating and pushing her boundaries as a painter.

Her process has evolved many times over the years, she says. Siv used to paint in her studio from reference photos she took during trail hikes and travels. However, wanting to be outside rather than indoors painting, she began to focus on plein-air painting.

She says plein-air landscape painting expanded her awareness of real-life color and spatial relations in a new and exciting way. This technique required her to paint faster to capture the light accurately, she notes, resulting in “large strokes” and more attention to “color relations” than detail.

After that period, she started working more in a “collage expressionistic style” by sketching ideas on paper, designing them loosely in Photoshop for composition and color exploration, and then painting them.

“I have learned to do less planning now and lean more on intuition and play,” she says. “My work is more gratifying as it lends to more energetic bursts of inspiration that takes me on avenues I would not have explored before. It’s a very exhilarating and freeing process!”

When trying to create a certain texture or line, Siv enjoys working with various mediums such as acrylic paint and oil pastels. She incorporates oil pastels to bring out a “rich, vibrant color and strong line work that produces contrast and roughness, she says.

“My work constitutes a balance of gestural strokes, a focus on color and shape that morph into something familiar,” Siv says. “It is energizing, and I hope that people connect with what I’m sharing.”