Portfolio | Inside Edition

Eric Thompson

“Interiors have a sense of privacy and comfort to them. The objects in them speak to people and remind them of a treasured memory or feeling they had forgotten. The title of this piece refers to the rising steam and also to the rising motion of the tree branch. The warmth of the steam and the light pouring in contrasts with the coolness outside. I love to play with light coming through windows and wrapping around window sills and objects. I wanted to create a sense of someone having just set down the tea. I like the mystery that surrounds the piece: Who owns this cup? Are they sitting there just outside the frame? Are they coming back, or have they forgotten it?”

Representation
Deloney Newkirk Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM; The Matthews Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; The 15th Street Gallery, Salt Lake City, UT; Quidley & Co., Boston and Nantucket, MA; www.ericgthompson.com.

Upcoming Show
Solo show, The Matthews Gallery, July 1-31.

Jennifer O’Connell

“Everyday poetry is found in my home; it is the humanity in the artifacts of daily life to which paint gives substance. Living inside my painting subject, I am attuned to my changing perceptions of it. I enjoy painting what is familiar and often overlooked—the remains of daily activities which become evidence of human presence. I embrace the changes that naturally occur within the space as a result of daily life, painting things in and out as each painting requires. There is logic to light and form, but the more you paint, the more you know a subject, and the easier it is to manipulate visual elements. Ultimately, reality is bendable; it is the support for suggestion. I am as interested in the illusion I can create as I am in the abstraction involved in applying paint to a rectangle.”

Representation
Adam Cave Fine Art, Raleigh, NC; Left Bank Gallery, Wellfleet, MA; www.jenniferoconnell.net.

Karen Lawrence

“The interiors of homes have always intrigued me. I want to meet the people who live there and see how they live. Through my process of painting, that is exactly what I do. I begin by photographing beautiful rooms full of family treasures. I like to capture the room at rest after the inhabitants have left. I feel a connection to these people as I portray their rooms. Two Benches by the Fire is a painting of a lovely old home in Richmond, VA. On a chilly day one feels the comfort of warming your feet on a bench by the fire or perhaps playing the piano in the sunroom. The pace slows down in an old house.”

Representation
Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA; Anderson Fine Art Gallery, St. Simons Island, GA; Lagerquist Gallery, Atlanta, GA; Frameworks Gallery, Marietta, GA; Gallery 5800, Richmond, VA; City Art Gallery, Greenville, NC; Swan Coach House Gallery, Atlanta, GA; John Collette Fine Art, Highlands, NC; www.artshow.com/lawrence.

Upcoming Shows
Three-person show, City Art Gallery, through May 3.
Two-person show, Gallery 5800, May 13-June 6.

Lane Bennion

“My painting Pole depicts the inside of my local Costco. Costco falls into the lowly ‘big box’ category, considered by many the most mundane form of architecture. The big-box store is a place built for no-nonsense consuming, a place where you get in, buy your stuff, and get out. However, I find this kind of interior anything but mundane. A box store interior can be quite visually aggressive, violent, and chaotic. I am often drawn to busy or chaotic scenes in my still lifes and interiors. Perhaps when there is so much going in a scene, I find that by painting it, I can slow it down and exercise some control over the chaos—or at least hear what it has to say.”

Representation
Terzian Gallery, Park City, UT; J. Willott Gallery, Palm Desert, CA; Mondo Fine Art, Salt Lake City, UT; www.lanebennion.com.

Dianne Massey Dunbar

“I have a passion for ordinary, often unnoticed images that are crowded into our daily lives. I want to honor the daily stuff of life, from my son’s cereal bowl to rain on the car windshield. Shopping Cart is a scene from the produce section of the grocery store where I have shopped for over 25 years. When I walk into the store, it’s like meeting a friend. I know where to look to find almost anything. Painting for me is not about rendering, but about attempting to create a successful image using all the tools available to an artist: value, color, line, edges, shape, gradation, and texture. In the end, I hope that each painting celebrates art, paint, and labor and says something personal.”

Representation
Gallery 1261, Denver, CO; Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art, San Antonio, TX; www.diannemasseydunbar.com.

Patricia Canney

“I think of these pieces as figurative without the figure. And I like the intimate quality of an interior; it’s human-size. The initial inspiration for my dress series was a New York City moment—seeing a dramatic display of white dresses in a SoHo storefront. This painting was inspired by that same New York City interior, with some variations in the garments. In general, I paint places and people from my own world and experience. I have visited dressmakers’ studios and a theater costume shop. I have also collected some vintage dresses, and they evoke even more response. I love seeing costumes on mannequins. They evoke fantasy, dreams, memories … the whole idea of a costume becoming reality is pretty interesting. My grandmother worked as a tailor in an old-fashioned men’s clothing store, so I have memories of that as well.”

Representation
Coda Gallery, Park City, UT; Abend Gallery, Denver, CO; Huff Harrington Fine Art, Atlanta, GA; G.C. Lucas Gallery, Indianapolis, IN; www.pacanney.com.

Featured in April 2011.