Folk Art and Storytelling: Art by Dennis Worrel
Dennis Worrel is a painter and printmaker currently based on the northern coast of Oregon. In his artistic practice, Dennis utilizes a style that hearkens to folk art and storytelling between old friends.
I really appreciate the overall aesthetic of Dennis' art portfolio. The artist often works exclusively from memory, though he sometimes creates preliminary sketches or draws inspiration from photos. There's a wonderful sense of immediacy that's brought about by this way of working, as well as the loose, gestural hand and earthy colour palette that characterize Dennis' style.
With series titles like Antiquities, Northwest Tales, and Family Stories, one gets the sense that these images, and the narratives therein, are personal -- yet the artist seems eager to share them with the viewer, and potentially introduce someone new to a storied visual tradition.
