Having discovered pencils, Robert Blehert began drawing on paper at the age of three. After moving to Seattle from Minnesota in 1979, his art studies taught him to implement the painting techniques of the Old Masters. Stressing the importance of utilizing various natural laws in masterfully executing any style of painting, Blehert discovered a love of capturing people in his works.
His early pieces were reminiscent of the ultra-realistic portraits of Old Masters like Vermeer. The use of composition, color and light were important aspects of his studies. Through his expertise in this area, he acquired quite a following for his portraiture.
Wishing to grow beyond realism, Blehert took the same qualities of composition, color and light, but expanded his repertoire to Impressionism. Four paintings in this genre are currently on view at Kindred Circle Art Gallery in downtown Edmonds, which is featuring Blehert in a solo exhibition now through Dec. 20.
Another direction has called Blehert recently — personality portraits. In these vivid, textural floral abstract paintings, Blehert captures personality traits of some of his favorite people and puts them on bold display on the canvas. For example, someone with an upbeat, happy joy of life is captured by vivid oranges and yellows fairly jumping off the canvas with thick layers of paint.
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