It wasn’t until his mid-twenties that Ted Jeremenko discovered his love of painting. While working in the computer and banking industries, Jeremenko began his artistic career as a hobby. After the success of his first show at Jay Johnson America’s Folk Heritage on Madison Avenue, NY Jeremenko followed his passion and became a full-fledged professional artist. “I paint primarily for myself,” he explains, “but it is very gratifying to know that my artwork touches other people.”
Jeremenko’s work is very unique for its simple, geometric forms and raw view of the world. His oeuvre is very much a part of the folk art tradition. He paints landscapes scattered with houses and other architectural buildings including lighthouses and churches. Jeremenko approaches each painting with a goal of simplifying the view. Each plane is painted with a solid color, breaking down entire scenes into a handful of colors. This stylistic representation of architecture works in harmony with Jeremenko’s pointillist-inspired landscapes to create striking compositions.
“Along the Pond” clearly demonstrates the dualistic technique of pointillism and abstraction that Jeremenko employs. He uses color to define light, form, and a sense of space. The focal point of the painting is the red house slightly to the left of center, but the viewers’ eye moves easily around the canvas to the stark white church and on to the dark green mountains in the background. The multi-hued leaves on the trees seem to move in the breeze and it is easy to imagine each individual blade of grass that grows in this thriving landscape. Jeremenko helps the viewer see beauty in every scene. His stylized methods create a serene world filled with greenery, blue skies and composed buildings.
Jeremenko was born in Yugoslavia in 1938. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the age of twelve. His carefully arranged compositions and beautiful renditions of space allow us, as his viewers, to see the world through Jeremenko’s eyes.
View more acrylic paintings by Ted Jeremenko here or visit us in person to see his works for yourself.
