Ski Holm: Bio

Ski Holm hails from East Northport, Long Island. At age sixteen he was invited to study life drawing at C.W. Post College and as a Fine Arts major at FIT in New York City he studied composition and painting with Richard Pitts, Don Perlis, Susan Daykin and Vincent Arcilesi - all established artists of the era.

During a five year stint as staff Artist-In-Residence for Chrystal Field/George Bartenieff’s Theater for the New City in NYC Ski expanded his range of work to include set design and scene painting for many productions including the world premier of the Obie Award-winning play The Danube by Irene Fornes.

Ski established a resident studio at his home in Franklin County, PA in 1992. Since then he has exhibited in New York City, Philadelphia and many local galleries throughout PA and MD. Known early on for landscapes his focus has shifted to single subjects that developed into a series of multi-media works such as The Caribbean, Up and Corn. The most recent subjects, and the focus of this latest exhibit of still life pieces, are common objects including Produce, The Broken Bowl and Fortune Cookies. “There is nothing more freeing than to work within constraints,” says Holm, “It gives you an opportunity to work an idea to death.”

In addition to his full-time production schedule Ski is a committed advocate for arts education. He offers private lessons in drawing and painting and created a special course in portfolio development for high school students who have continued their fine arts studies at Maine College of Art, Kutztown University and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

He was a member of the Salmagundi Club and the Figurative Artists’ Alliance in New York as well as many local organizations. Ski has been a faculty member at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts in Hagerstown, MD since 2007, offering classes in Painting, Composition, Portraiture and Drapery. He is also a Resident Artist with the Arts in Education program of the PA Council on the Arts.

Ski admires the work of Edward Fenimore, Pierre Bonnard, Balthus, Fairfield Porter and Wayne Thiebaud. He is a life-long Yankees fan and enjoys the writings of Rex Stout and Kinky Friedman.

Daily Painting

These small works are part of an endeavor to create a painting a day. When my friend Treva, first told me of the Painting-A-Day movement, I must admit that I was a bit skeptical. She persisted, suggesting that I look at the work of Carol Marine. Being duly impressed, I started looking further into it and came across Michael Naples. What impressed me was not merely their ability to consistently create a work of art each day but more at the quality of work. Amazing

What put me over the edge in deciding to try it was a conversation I had with Stephen Magsig at an opening at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. Seeing his incredible work and hearing his passion for the discipline, convinced me to try it.

So, after several false starts and more disastrous paintings than I would like to admit (this is not as easy as it may look), I present you with my version of Daily Painting. I hope you enjoy.

Pages

Bio