ASTRID PRESTON

Astrid Preston, White Trees, oil on canvas, 6 x 6"
Astrid Preston, Spaces, oil on wood panel, 24 x 24"
Astrid Preston, Small Wren, oil on canvas, 4 x 4"
Astrid Preston, Red Bird, oil on canvas, 4 x 4"
Astrid Preston, Color of Colors, oil on canvas, 42 x 66"
Wind From the East, oil on linen, 42 x 58"
Forest Mist, 2009, oil on canvas, 16 x 16"
Red Pine, 2012, oil on canvas, 16 x 16"
Hillside Naoshima, 2011, oil on canvas, 66 x 33"
Night Walk
Image of Astrid Preston painting titled "Night Walk"
Constellations
Image of Astrid Preston painting titled "Constellations"
Veil of Spring
Image of Astrid Preston painting titled "Veil of Spring"
White Trees
Spaces
Small Wren
Red Bird
Color of Colors
Wind From the East
Forest Mist - SOLD
Red Pine
Hillside Naoshima
 
Night Walk
Constellations
Veil of Spring
White Trees
Spaces
Small Wren
Red Bird
Color of Colors
Wind From the East
Forest Mist - SOLD
Red Pine
Hillside Naoshima
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Artist CV

About

Born: 1945, Stockholm, Sweden
Studied at UCLA, B.A., 1967
Lives and works in Santa Monica, CA

Stockholm-born and Los Angeles-raised and educated, Astrid Preston was first inspired by nature as a child, raised in a home near an apple orchard in Sweden.  Her personal pursuit of landscape painting has been a singular and relentless focus.  The artist has always examined nature in exquisite detail, beginning from her earliest paintings in the 70’s which, from then until now, have been moved by distant memories, outdoor observation, and the camera’s lens.

Astrid Preston believes “our deepest feelings are reflected in nature.”  As a result, her beautifully executed landscape paintings are full of metaphors of our emotions and thoughts. Preston’s work achieves a form of abstraction through a range of skills which derives from realism.  Paintings which reveal detailed depictions of  gardens reach a visual complexity which, the artist says, “parallel our visual information overload of today”, yet their patterns reflect the natural repetitions in nature and are, ultimately, quieting in their rhythms.

In the act of painting, Astrid Preston is looking for a little “wildness”-something other than the cultivated and the natural.  Her compositions tell stories, create moods, and speak of the artist’s inner life as she reveals our outer world in a way we have not seen before.

Astrid Preston has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the U.S. and Asia for over 30 years.  She has been awarded an NEA Fellowship Grant in Painting and her work is in many private and museum collections.