Killian Ward

Artist’s Statement

Painting is one of my great pleasures in life and color is usually my main emphasis.  I studied painting in college, but did not seriously start painting until about twenty years later.  I was fortunate enough to encounter some very fine artists who encouraged me to explore a different approach to my art than the stiff classical training I had been exposed to earlier.  I look for the mystical, symbolic side to my subjects and throw in some whimsey just for fun.  I like to tell a story but leave enough to the viewer's imagination or interpretation to make it interesting for them.  My primary medium is watercolor, but I enjoy using other products as well, combing inks, pencils, and collage materials where I feel they work to take the piece one step further.  Layering and depth come through with these methods that I cannot achieve otherwise.
 
I majored in painting at Averett University in Virginia.  I have had the wonderful opportunity to study with many of the nation's great artists through workshops.  Of those, ones of greatest enfluence are Cheng Kee Chee, Carla O'Connor, Carrie Burns Brown to name a few.  But the mentor I am most greatful to is Jan Ledbetter.  She encouraged, challenged, and led me to this great passion for painting in her generous and loving way.  She presented a completely different way of making art that I will be forever in her debt.
 
I have been a member of Virginia Watercolor Society winning an Honorable Mention in their 2001 show.  I have been accepted in two Pikes Peak Watermedia Shows, Kansas Watercolor Society Show, This Century Gallery show winning second place in their 2000 Membership Show.  I was a co-owner of Blue Skies Gallery in Hampton, VA prior to moving to Colorado where we represented 74 artists of various mediums.