Abstract Artist: Megan Rieke
Medium: Acrylic and Charcoal
Website:  www.meganriekeart.com

As a painter, I’m allotted the freedom to evoke emotions through visible struggles without having to digest and evaluate emotions so they remain raw and immediate. The paint itself is the central character of my works. By utilizing the materials’ fluidity, my struggle becomes palatable. Central to my struggle is transforming ugly into pretty. Rust, corrosion, foulness is beautiful to me because it is honest. The colors apparent are real. In a world scared to live truly, the ugly underbelly of our existence is the foundation of everything beautiful. I utilize my materials by allowing their fluidity to remain free. This helps me find balance and peace through loose brushstrokes, composition, and color. My paintings are intended to be an honest revelation of my emotions so that, in opening myself up, the viewer may also reconnect to oneself and the world we live in.

Megan is an artist in the mediums of painting and drawing. She earned her B.A. in Creative Writing from Webster University (St. Louis, MO) in 1999 with a minor in Fine Arts. Since then, she has worked, traveled, and volunteered in several states and countries. With the arrival of her first child, Megan began going back to school, earning 36 credit hours of Fine Art courses through St. Louis Community College – Meramec. She was chosen as 1 of 3 students to participate in a city wide collegiate student exhibition in 2007.

Since 2007, she had to put her art on hold in order to have two more children and rehab and old home. All the while, though, when she had free time, she was practicing her craft. Since 2011, she has been in several local galleries, juried exhibitions, and restaurants. Her art continues to surprise and inspire with her colors and forms. She is dedicated to, as John Cage once said, “Purposeful purposelessness”.