Artist Spotlight: Kim Abraham

"It's a real essence of a place ... the silhouette," says Kim Abraham, standing in front of his paintings at the Zenith Gallery in Chevy Chase.

It was just one year ago that this Georgia-raised painter received the opportunity of a lifetime—a fellowship from the Ballinglen Arts Foundation, a non-profit arts organization in Ireland, for a six-week stay in Ireland to paint the Irish countryside.

Now, Abraham's Ballinglen paintings, along with works by five other artists, are on display at Chevy Chase's Zenith Gallery as part of the "Character of Chevy Chase" exhibit. 

"Every morning I would stand outside and watch the sun come up ... (and) some birds would be coming in," says Abraham, recalling the mornings he woke up at 4 a.m. to paint "Ballinglen," an oil painting capturing the sunrise.

Abraham continues to dream of the Irish landscape, whose simplistic beauty he captured in his artwork in just a month and a half, from his studio here in Chevy Chase.

"Sometimes I use a photo as a quick reference, but mostly it's from memory," Abraham says.

Images of Ireland's landscape are seared into his head, he adds.

Given his love of the outdoors as a child, it's no surprise that Abraham's abstract paintings of Irish landscapes are anything but typical.

"Growing up in the South ... the landscape was always at your feet," says Abraham, recalling his hunting days as a child and his reverence for the Southern landscape.

Abraham uses many different media, including graphite for dark silhouettes and oil on paper or canvas.

"With a great deal of patience," he works "meticulously across the horizon" line on the paper or canvas, in what he describes as a slow process to bring Ireland's landscape to life for the viewer.

See the landscapes yourself at the Zenith Gallery in the Chevy Chase Pavilion at Western and Wisconsin avenues, now through Sept. 10.