DJ Kolodziej Stawasz
D. J. Kolodziej Stawasz
davidstaw[email protected] 53 Warren St. Newburyport, MA/978-992-7189
The creative career of D. J. Kolodziej Stawasz spans both his professional and personal life.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in studio art and art history, and a Master of Business Administration degree in marketing, Kolodziej Stawasz pursued a professional career in Communications while at the same time engaging in a personal career in theater set design. Currently, he estimates that he has designed and painted more than 125 sets for Massachusetts theater organizations.
Having grown up in an environment that encouraged creative endeavors,
Kolodziej Stawasz pursued his early attraction to landscapes, particularly their
textural elements and how they evoke feelings, through the water color medium.
This continued in his designs for theater sets where he explored the use of paint to
replicate the textures of hard and soft landscape elements. “As a creative person my creative interests go beyond the fine art of drawing and painting and include theater set design and painting, furniture design and other aspects of my everyday
surroundings.”
Kolodziej Stawasz is currently working in pencil exploring how black, white and
shades of grey can create textures that the viewer can emotionally feel. “I want the viewer to be drawn into the drawing and feel its subject matter. To feel the grass, the ocean breeze, smell flowers, and be transported to that location. The images I draw are places that have resulted in an emotional response in me. My work can be described as studies of light and how it affects texture and form to elicit emotion in the viewer.” When he started drawing, he studied with Boston-based artist Stacey Cushner to further refine his technique.
ARTIST WORK STATEMENT
“When I first started working in pencil it seemed strange to me since it felt so natural to have that instrument in my fingers. I always doodled, even when in work-related meetings, and I realized that my approach to my drawings is actually a refinement of my doodling”
“I draw like a painter. My style is to build up layers of graphite, varying the pencil hardness depending on the shade of black or grey desired, and using the color of the paper to help achieve translucency. I also vary the pressure applied to the pencil as well as the stroke used to create the shapes inherent in the drawing.”
“I look for scenes that have one or more of the following attributes: a strong light source, strong textural elements, a dynamic vantage point or perspective, conflicting angles and/or shapes, and an interesting subject matter that relates to me in some form, that has had an emotional response in me.”
“Landscapes speak to me so I favor this type of subject matter. When executing my drawings I feel the emotion and connection I felt when first viewing the subject matter is transmitted through the pencil onto the paper. I usually add more detail than what is available in my reference materials, but not shown vividly enough to suit my needs.”
AWARDS
BROKEN – Winner, Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank Award for Best Work in Drawing at the 2014 Newburyport Art Association’s Fall Members’ Juried Show, October 2014.
CHARLIE – Winner, Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank Award for Best Work in Drawing at the 2016 Newburyport Art Association’s Fall Members’ Juried Show, October 2016.
REMEMBER – Winner, Matter Communications, Inc. Award for Best Work in Drawing at the 2017 Newburyport Art Association’s Winter Members’ Juried Show, January 2017.
LOOKOUT – Winner, Area Industrial Development Foundation Award for Best Work in Drawing at the 2017 Newburyport Art Association’s Fall Members’ Juried Show, October 2017.
RAINFOREST – NAA Honorable Mention Award for Drawing at the 2018 Newburyport Art Association’s Fall Members’ Juried Show, October 2018.
FRIENDS – Winner, 2021 North Shore Art Association Spring Art Exhibition, May 2021; Winner, Best Drawing, 25th Annual Newburyport Art Association Regional Juried Show, May 2022.
