A View on St. Germain's Oil paintings
St. Germain points in her oil paintings to what she feels the unseen Creator intends to say in the here and now. A word, spoken or written, or a music piece may be quickly forgotten, but a painting is a constant powerful visual reminder.
The ideas behind her paintings come from experiences of her devotional life. To the artists prayer and contemplation is not a passive activity. The kind of prayer she refers to is that of a contending spirit. This contending is seen in her paintings. Even though it is only a moment in eternity, it takes an intense concentration as well as endurance to see this process of revealing the unseen to the end.
The artist wants the viewer to experience one moving
at supersonic speed, when shapes are then seen as blotches of color.
She finds that, "With this style I am experimenting how far I can
push the limits of the layman's eye, being able to connect one part
to the next, while still viewing it as the same line or shape." The
blotches of color or light rays may be reminiscent of impressionism,
but she feels that her intent to portray movement and emotion give them
a more expressionistic character. This approach of the artists may very
well place her as 
one
moving between impressionism and expressionism.
The movement seen in her paintings does not intend to refer to physical movement, but comprises of experiencing a sudden change or interruption in attitude or caused by a specific event, or the process of a journey.
She feels that, "With most paintings I go beyond the call. When I think I have found the clearest images conveying the concepts of a particular revelation, I then need to resolve the matter of style. It would be so easy to stay in an easy-going representational approach, but that would be mediocrity to me." Since the images in her oils are intended to carry a message, the unfinished looks she presents underscores, and leaves the door open for contemplation. St. Germain views that she may start out in a representational or semi-abstract style, but looks for a connection: an AHA experience. Until she finds that moment, she views the painting as unfinished.
Click on History to
find out about the sudden change from watercolors to oil paintings.
