Abbe and Harriet stand side by side when they work on a mutual painting. Yes, they create their own work, but since 1998 they have also collaborated on works by a “Third Artist.” Abbe lives in New York City, Harriet in Cabin John, Maryland; they alternate cities. Together two artists create a third aesthetic:

Harriet: I begin a drawn composition, and work the composition, with a linear approach, like a map of how to get there.

Abbe: I start by approaching the depth of field at the same time and in the same way as I approach the color. I try small vague studies at first, in order to see the whole, and to feel what will happen with the paint, and where the problems will arise.  I don’t solve anything any further than that, I stop, and we both begin to combine what we’ve just done.

What they create, says Abbe, “neither would have imagined alone.”

* * *

Abbe Stahl Steinglass paints both landscapes and abstracts. While an abstraction begins as “diagrams of ideas” that become symbols and metaphors to tell a story, landscapes appear real. She paints city views looking out from her studio in Lower Manhattan; beaches on Cape Cod; forests and hills in the Berkshires. When Abbe focuses on objects and form, she aims for a deep perspective.

Snow and Dark Water
Oil on stretched heavy paper
11.5 x 5.5 inches

New York Winter
Oil on canvas
15.5 x 11.5 inches

Yellow
Acrylic stain on canvas
40 x 32 inches

Chaos or Order: Which Comes First
Acrylic on canvas
32 x 40 inches

Harriet W. Lesser started as a poet. Gradually, images conjured by the words became her primary focus. When painting, she sees her canvas as a flat plane and eschews perspective; she “manipulates line and negative space.” Harriet explores new media, but never loses a connection with more classical processes – “an interesting tightrope.” Her current work combines drawing, painting, Polaroid transferring and monoprinting.

Falling Salad
Mixed media on canvas
40 x 30 inches

Towpath in Summer
Oil on canvas
60 x 40 inches

At the End of the Dance
Oil on canvas
24 x 20 inches

Hong Kong
Mixed media (with transfer) on paper
24 x 20 inches

The Third Artist may not exist, but the works are substantial and quite different from the ones Abbe and Harriet produce alone. Together, they hash out their differences; they talk; they even paint over each other’s work. Watching each other’s developing work, as if they were doing this simultaneously, they are “correcting the course” the way a skipper steers a ship.

During the process as the Third Artist emerges, all the elements of their singularity and their collaboration fuse. Think of these images as a puzzle: see if you can figure out where the Third Artist comes from. Visit their website, abbeandharriet.com for more clues.

Pink, Trees (2004)
Oil, heavy paper, mixed media
60 x 22 inches

Our Toys (2005)
Oil on canvas
36 x 48 inches

 Structure (2006)
Oil on canvas
36 x 48 inches

Red (2009)
Oil on canvas
48 x 36 inches

Uprooted (2011)
Oil on paper
60 x 22 inches