Mari Kloeppel
November 2004
DESCRIPTION OF WORK
“Animals are noble,” says Mari Kloeppel. “They take themselves as seriously as we take ourselves.” In her oil portraits, Kloeppel captures both her subjects’ physical features and their character. Even though she is careful to maintain accuracy—even depicting spots and imperfections—Kloeppel, who has a background in abstract painting with a bachelor’s degree in art from San Jose State University, stresses that she is not a photorealist. To keep the focus on her subject, her oil-on-linen paintings tend to be solitary figures with neutral backgrounds.
METHOD OF WORK
When Kloeppel sees an animal that inspires her, she studies it, noting its behavior and interaction with other animals. In this preliminary stage she occasionally takes a few photographs, but does not depend on them. “I’ve trained my eye to watch fast movement and burn it into my brain to remember it,” she says. After she has narrowed down a pose that is inherent to the animal, she creates a charcoal or chalk drawing before transferring it onto her canvas. “I start by working in bright, transparent underpaintings,” she explains. “Then I build up hundreds of thin layers for a period of weeks to months.” She depends on anatomy books and animal skulls to execute this classic approach, which includes painting layers of flesh and veins. In the final phase, she renders the hair and the texture as realistically as possible, using a fine brush—one to 10 hairs—to get the detail. “I want people to want to touch that animal,” she says.
FAVORITE SUBJECT MATTER
To find a subject, Kloeppel only has to step outside of her home and studio, which has become a haven for rescued animals. Current resident fauna include a dog, eight cats, two horses and about 25 chickens. Although she accepts commissions, Kloeppel first meets with the prospective subject to see if she makes a connection with it. “I want to have a relationship with that animal so I can really capture its soul,” she says.
FIRST ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS
“My inspiration was always animals and natural environments,” says Kloeppel, who has been creating art for almost as long as she can remember. “Right after school or on the weekends I’d pack my backpack with writing materials and a sketchpad, and I’d head off into the hills with my pony.” In elementary school Kloeppel was encouraged by a private art teacher who shared her love for animals. “She was not only painting them and teaching me how to do it, but she rescued animals,” she says. “The wildlife would relax around her. Birds would land on her arms.”
MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE
“When I was a kid I saw a retrospective show of the Blue Rider,” Kloeppel remembers. “It completely blew me away.” Franz Marc, Paul Klee and August Macke of the German-based pre–World War II group of expressionists became her “heroes” as she pursued abstract expressionism. But even when she was painting abstractly, Kloeppel says she loved realism. A decade ago Kloeppel was inspired to shift gears after seeing a Johannes Vermeer exhibition in Europe. “I realized I could use my abstract painting background and get all that power and balance with my realism,” she says. Considering her affection for animals, it’s no wonder that another major influence was British Romantic artist George Stubbs, who is best known for his paintings of horses.
BIGGEST BREAK
“I had known Chris [Winfield] for a while, and I loved the artists he represented,” Kloeppel says. “I’d go in his gallery, and we’d talk art.” It took years, however, before Kloeppel felt ready to show her work to the gallery owner, who has now represented her for five years. “He’s opened a lot of doors for me professionally.”