The Studio
A slow practice. Representational oil painting in the atelier tradition — the figure, the hand, surfaces of cloth and skin.
Stephen Erik Schirle is a contemporary representational painter working primarily in oils. His practice centers on the human figure rendered with careful, layered observation — most often hands, the way light sits on skin, fabric folding under weight.
Trained in the atelier tradition with study in Florence and Los Angeles, his work moves between long-format figurative pieces and a continuing series of intimate hand studies. Recent work has been included in American Art Collector and shown with Arcadia Contemporary.
The studio is quiet and small. Each painting is built up in thin glazes over weeks — a slow, deliberate practice in an impatient century.
Selected · Curriculum Vitae
Say hello.
For commission enquiries, gallery requests, or studio visits, write to the studio directly. Replies typically within a week — slowness applies here too.