Show Preview | Paul Scott Gallery: Julee Hutchison & Morgan Madison

Julee Hutchison, Country Road, oil, 16 x 16.

Bend, OR
June 7-July 2

This story was featured in the June 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art June 2013 print issue, or get the Southwest Art June 2013 digital download now…Or better yet, just subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!

High up on a mesa outside the beautiful mountain town of Telluride, CO, it’s hard for artist Julee Hutchison not to be inspired. “It’s an incredibly gorgeous place to paint,” she says. Each summer, the artist and her husband lease a portion of their land to a rancher for his cows to graze. Hutchison calls herself the “cows’ paparazzi,” because every time she hears them coming she is out the door with her camera, snapping photos of the animals to use as reference material for her paintings. “I feel a strong connection to the animal spirit and to the landscape around me,” Hutchison says.

Julee Hutchison, Best Friends, oil, 16 x 20.

This love of animals and nature was the impetus for several new works by Hutchison in a show opening June 7 at Paul Scott Gallery. While many artists are compelled to paint the majestic mountains in and around Telluride, Hutchison often finds herself drawn to more pastoral scenes. “The mountains are already glorious, so I like to take people to a place of quiet and peace,” she says. One such place is the neighboring rural town of Norwood, where the artist stumbled upon the scene portrayed in COUNTRY ROAD. “I was driving around and suddenly saw these incredible fall trees with trunks that were flaming yellow,” she says. “[The landscape] had this amazing light that was just gorgeous.”

Although Hutchison is primarily a landscape painter, the works in this show feature an array of subjects—including animals, still lifes, figures, and a Chicago cityscape—in addition to plein-air landscapes. “I’ve never had this much variety in a show before,” Hutchison says. The artist’s exploration of new subject matter speaks to her commitment to continuously improve and expand her work. She has also been experimenting with texture recently, adding a more three-dimensional aspect to her loose, impressionistic style. “Lately I’ve been trying to push beyond creating just ‘a good painting that captures the scene’ into something that’s really exciting—something that sucks you in,” she says.

Morgan Madison, Survey #2, kiln-formed glass, 14 x 33 x 1.

The show also features new works by Morgan Madison, an artist working to expand his own boundaries in a very different medium: kiln-formed glass. While Madison has created primarily abstract pieces in the past, some of his new works in the show are a bit more representational. “It’s a side avenue of exploration that I haven’t really shown to the public before,” he says. Often this exploration involves a melding of specific objects or places—such as signposts, architecture, graffiti, or other city scenes—with abstract memories of the color, movement, and experience of various places. Madison says that one reason for this recent shift toward the representational is his growing interest in the concept of place. “I find myself more and more influenced by place and the elements—both manmade and natural—that define a certain place,” he says.

The show opens with an artists’ reception from 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday, June 7, and runs through July 2. —Lindsay Mitchell

contact information
541.330.6000
www.paulscottfineart.com

Featured in the June 2013 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art June 2013 digital download
Southwest Art June 2013 print issue
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