Artemis, oil and gold leaf on birchwood panel

Adele Knowler is an artist currently living and working in Edmonton, Alberta. In her practice, Adele is inspired by the environment around her, the human figure, and art history.

Icon series 2, oil, gold leaf, conte on birchwood panel

I’m enjoying browsing the artist’s recent works of portraiture. In her 2019 gallery, Adele uses an interesting combination of pattern and colour to build portraits that juxtapose abstract painting techniques with realistic figurative painting. The artist is equally adept in both disciplines, and the resulting images showcase her subjects as if seen through a stained-glass window, or perhaps through the haze of a dream.

The front page of Adele's art website

Some of the artist’s portraits using gold leaf have the appearance of much older artworks -- of medieval art, frescoes or illuminated manuscripts. There’s something regal about these works, an aesthetic that ties them to distant art history, though the artists style maintains a contemporary sense of realism.

Icon series 1, oil, gold leaf, mixed media on birchwood panel