Bitter cold provides inspiration for 'finger art'

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT (WABC) -- Not a lot of people can find beauty in this bitter cold, but a local artist finds inspiration in the ice.

She has a unique approach to creating art.

"I'm trying to bring that wow factor that I feel when I'm there in the landscape and I try to infuse them into my drawings and bring them to the people that can't necessarily travel to these places," said Zaria Forman, the artist.

She may draw with her fingers but don't call Zaria Forman a finger painter, because she doesn't use paint or paint brushes.

With a perfectly calculated smudge of a finger, she creates magic, truly.

She can make a glacier appear on a piece of paper, a wave bubble to shore, a storm clouds brewing on the horizon.

"Like the sky, I'll just use the biggest stick I have, cover the paper as much as I can and then smudge everything in with my fingers. And then for the finer details, I'll break the pastels into finer shards and try to get a sharp edge," Forman said.

She is a 32-year-old artist from Bedford-Stuyvesant who studied art at Skidmore College, but learned about the power of light from her mother who was a photographer.

Her hand drawn works are large, powerful, and breathtaking.

Zaria just started a new work called "Maldives 14" and it will go from a blank piece of paper to a finished work of art in only a month.

You can almost feel the cold from the icebergs; hear the waves crash on the beach.

But these are not photographs, just magnificent finger drawings.

A portion of all sales go toward protecting the environment.

"I want my work to kind of play a thing in a bigger role in humanity than just a pretty picture on a wall," Forman said.

For more information please visit: http://www.zariaforman.com/

Winston Wchter Fine Art

530 West 25th St.

New York, NY 10001

Solo show opens Sept. 10th, 6-8 p.m.

Contact info:

Zariaformaninfo@gmail.com

Gallery contact is Amanda: asnyder@winstonwachter.com

ArtStar is running a 15% off on all Foreman's prints until Wednesday at midnight with promo code ABCNEWS.