Thursday, August 12, 2010
Complementary Colors
Posted By Hannah Sayle on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 8:30 PM
An opening reception for In Love with Color, Friday evening from 5:30 to 7 p.m., marks the beginning of the 2010-2011 season at Levy Gallery at the Buckman Arts Center. Paintings by Jeanne Seagle and glasswork by Lisa Allen will be on display there until September 10th.
- Lisa Allen
- Fortuna
- Jeanne Seagle
- Sunset at Dacus Lake
Seagle and Allen have never worked together. "In fact, I did not know her and did not know her work, until we delivered our pieces to the show," says Seagle. But it turns out the two have very complementary styles. That is, according to Allen, "We share that desire to explode with color in our work."
"The colors are unusual colors, not exactly realistic in nature, but I like to play around in my pictures," says Seagle. "I think that's prerogative of the artist, instead of just being a recorder. To take what we see and use that as inspiration instead of just copying. I like to see artists who have their own personal interpretation."
- Jeanne Seagle
- Home from the City
Seagle's pieces range from small portraits like the one above to a 6' tall, 27' wide, seven-panel landscape, commissioned by a local CEO. When he died shortly after receiving the piece, his widow gave the mural back to Seagle. "She didn't have any place to put it — it's too large for her house — but I wanted to show it."
- Jeanne Seagle
- River Bridge Mural
As for her inspiration, Seagle says it took her a while to enjoy painting here. "I just thought there was nothing around here worth painting, with all of the flatness. But then I started to appreciate it. The light and the color. There are incredible sunsets and sunrises, so I use the light of the sky in my paintings."
- Lisa Allen
- Cognition
Allen's glasswork pieces run as large as 31" wide x 12" deep, with a number of smaller options for more frugal buyers. She has two different lines of glasswork, a collection of one-of-a-kind pieces and a production line that is available at crafts fairs and The Pink Palace.
"It's hard for me to distinguish between [crafts and fine arts.] When I feel creatively stuck, I can do production work because I've done so much of it that it's almost meditative for me. But when I feel a creative spark to make something original, then it's nice to be able to pull away from the monotony of production work. I don't know that I could just do one or the other."
Levy Gallery is free and open to the public, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment.
Levy Gallery at the Buckman Arts Center, 60 Perkins Ext., 537-1483, www.stmarysschool.org/thebuckman
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