Stephen Nordlinger will hold an exhibit of drawings and paintings "The Figure is Central" at the Foundry Gallery, 1314 18th Street, one block east of Dupont CIrcle, from April 30 to June 1, noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday.

Since I began concentrating on painting and drawing 25 years ago, my main interest has been figurative art. I have tried to imbue my work with a zest that makes the figures as vivid and alive and expressive as possible. Sometimes they are done with a dash that attempts to capture the moment.

While working, sometime quickly, I feel that the figure must have a definite verisimilitude, the gesture must be right as an anchor before the work can proceed even in a semi-abstract approach. My work originally concentrated on watercolors, but I quickly took up acrylics as a more expressive medium for figurative work. I also work in tempera, pastel, charcoal and other media, sometimes in combination. Usually I work on paper or canvas but I also work on vellum, Mylar and multimedia board, a synthetic product that looks like paper but is more like a plastic and breaks rather than tears. It is composed of paper and thermal set epoxy resin.

I also do computer drawings. These are based on work done in a studio from models. I redraw the image on a computer using a mouse. Then I print it, usually in color. Sometimes I retain part of the original work on the computer print. Before taking up painting and drawing full-time, I was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun in Baltimore Moscow and Washington for 32 years. During many of those years I rushed through dinner and went to evening drawing groups. I studied with the late Bill Calfee, of American University, and Patricia Friend.

Stephen Nordlinger

Those interested in my work may contact me through this email address:

stephennordlinger@rcn.com