“Sassy Spicy Soulmates- Seahorses, Sea Turtles & Salty, Socialite Friends” featured Master Artist Stacie Krupa at SBDAC in September
Stacie Krupa’s “Sassy Spicy Soulmates- Seahorses, Sea Turtles & Salty, Socialite Friends” opens on Friday, September 2, at the Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center. Doors open at 6 p.m. for Art Walk, and the show continues through September 30. The Art Center is located at 2301 First Street, in the River District, downtown Fort Myers.
“As an only child, Animals became my pseudo-siblings. They were my best friends who never failed me,” Krupa says. “These paintings represent my best friends and all the fun I had playing with them. Painting to me is Pure Play. It’s a fun adventure every painting to see what evolves from manipulating materials. I use oils and acrylics, bold colors, charcoals, inks, iridescent mediums, wall spackling and glues to manipulate drips, washes and texture with various mediums.”
Stacie Krupa attended the University of Central Florida where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. As a student she worked in clinical environments where she could combine psychology with her artistic skills and knowledge. While she found great satisfaction in helping clients deal with addiction and develop coping and life skills, she decided to pursue her true passion. She began her education in fine art and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from UCF in 1994. She then attended a post-baccalaureate study program at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia, the oldest art school in the United States, where notable artists such as Mary Cassat and Thomas Eakins had studied and worked. She later attended a prestigious graduate program at the Maryland Institute College of Art, on scholarship. She continued her graduate studies at the University of Miami, and in 2001 was awarded her Master of Fine Arts in Painting.
In 1996, she opened her first gallery, the Stacie Krupa Gallery, in Winter Park, Florida. This SoHo-style gallery was focused on providing investment level original art and education to residents and visitors in the metropolitan Orlando area. After moving to Islamorada in the Florida Keys in 1998, she opened the Stacie Krupa Studio Gallery of Art, built on the SoHo- style concept of the Orlando gallery. She recently opened Stacie Krupa’s Corner Grill Gallery of Sanibel. Krupa paints every day. Her trademark, intense gestures create large images, monochromatic shemes, and raw, edgy canvas creations that command attention and warrant repeated viewing. The sea-life of Islamorada has had significant impact on the direction of Krupa’s work over the last 11 years.
“I find my animals elegant and playful and soothing since they represent the oceanic environment that I love,” adds Krupa. “The sound of the ocean waves has always relaxed me and painting the oceanic environment and sea life is my happy.” She loves creating sea horses and sea turtles. “I find their anatomy fascinating and quirky.”
Come experience the intensity of this Islamorada artist and see what critics call her “bold, powerful, in-your-face” expressionistic paintings.
