From an early age, Liv Saether has immersed herself in the act of making art. Though in large measure self-taught, she absorbed principles and techniques of the Old Masters through the teaching methods of Jan Saether. Much of her technique and approach is, however, individual and unique, the result of search, experiment and discovery.

At the age of twenty-eight, Liv was co-founder of Bruchion, a school of fine art instruction that began in Malibu, California and later moved to West Los Angeles. Bruchion was a cradle for the creativity of many persons who found their way to its doors in the late eighties and early nineties, incorporating art classes, poetry readings, lectures, musical and dance concerts and other activities related to creative expression.

There is a highly developed esthetic evident in Liv Saether’s painting, the result of years of patient study and cultivation. Few painters exhibit the sensitivity to composition and the subtlety in the use of color, value and texture found in her work. All of this, however, is subordinated to a truly spontaneous and improvisational approach that places creative imagination above mere techniques of representation.

For Liv Saether the experience of the eye is an activity of the soul, and the communication of a deep emotion is paramount. Words cannot replace the experience of contemplation embodied in a painting. Ultimately, the art of Liv Saether, is a wordless meditation, a deeply attentive act of being present to what is given birth in each moment of consciousness—an art of participation in what eternally is.

Charles Coffman
June 2004