The Knapp Gallery continues its tradition of First Friday openings and welcomes Ober-Rae Starr Livingstone in his current body of paintings Places in time. Livingstone, a resident of Cincinnati, is currently represented by Galleries in Ohio, Kentucky and Tennessee.
A self-taught painter, Livingstone incorporates elements of abstraction and impressionism. Beyond contemporary art nomenclature, Livingstone paints instinctively from his heart. An intuitive process rather than a cognitive experience, Ober-Rae endeavors to translate the language spoken by the Creation. Concentrating on Land and Sky-Scapes, Livingstone's multi-dimensional paintings depict his awe at the "wonder of Creation."
Reliant upon the yearning of the viewer's heart, desiring the perfection offered only in the creation, Livingstone stands in the gap as an oracle transcribing the history of eternity. These paintings fulfill a "calling." Much more than earthbound images of an outstanding landscape, sunset or sunrise, Livingstone paints the heavenward expression of these brilliant experiences that are divinely imprinted on our hearts by the Creator's hand. These are the images we see when we close our eyes and look inward.
Ober-Rae is also a technician. Layer after layer; wash after wash, Livingstone labors bringing to life the resulting brilliance of his process. These paintings breathe with life. A Co-Creator of sorts, Ober-Rae's gift of "inventing" light through color ultimately affords us healing. A visual salve, Ober-Rae's images exist as a ministry. With a visual language they speak a heavenly language to the places in our lives long forgotten; even the dark painful places. Emanating perfect peace these paintings remind us of the Creator's faithfulness down through the corridor of time.
Livingstone's paintings are included in private and corporate collections in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Africa.