Show Preview | American Impressionist Society

Kirkland, WA
Howard/Mandville Gallery, September 29-October 30

Brienne Brown, Evening at the Ranch, watercolor, 12 x 20.

This story was featured in the October 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

This fall, the American Impressionist Society National Juried Exhibition heads to the Pacific Northwest for the first time for its 17th annual show. The exhibition, dedicated to the Impressionist style in its myriad manifestations, opens with a reception and awards presentation on Thursday, September 29, from 5 to 8 p.m.

A prestigious list of 140 artists and 20 AIS masters, officers, and founders exhibit this year, including Suzie Baker, Kathie Odom, John Caggiano, Rick J. Delanty, and Brent Jensen. Each artist can submit two pieces for consideration, but an anonymous five-person jury selects just one piece from each artist for the final show.

Calvin Liang, an AIS master artist, presents A VIEW OF CATALINA, as well as serving as this year’s awards judge. Liang has a diverse grouping of paintings to evaluate. “Impressionism is so hard to define,” says Debra Joy Groesser, AIS president. “The Russian school has big, bold brush strokes, and then there are the little, broken brush strokes like those Monet did. It’s all about the light and painting the light. We have a range of styles within the impressionistic family.” There’s a wide range of subject matter and media, too.

: Suzie Baker, Mud Man, oil, 6 x 6.

: Marva Harms, Apple Picking Day, oil, 12 x 12.

: Jane Hunt, Winter Sky, oil, 36 x 24.

: Wes Newton, Off the Trail, oil, 16 x 20.

: Kathie Odom, Silent Light, oil, 10 x 20.

: Ron Rencher, Cambria Pastoral, oil, 10 x 16.

: Joe Anna Arnett, Good Fences, oil, 16 x 20.

: Bob Beck, Ed’s Tractor, oil, 16 x 20.

: Anne Blair Brown, Porch Light, oil, 20 x 20.

Suzie Baker’s oil, MUD MAN, measures only 6 by 6 inches. While not grand in scale, the Texas-based painter says, it represents her work well. The portrait depicts a male entertainer from a local Renaissance festival who eats mud, and that offbeat personality comes across in her piece. “I wanted to do something that was quick, painterly, and in an alla prima style. It was fun to do. It flowed off the brush. It has movement and voice. I enjoy seeing evidence of the artist’s hand through brush strokes, and I try to keep that element in my own work,” she says.

Tennessee-based Kathie Odom, who was juried into the exhibition for the first time this year, shows a sentimental piece. She painted SILENT LIGHT in a Kroger grocery store parking lot, depicting a farm that is surrounded by commercial development. “I’m always on the hunt for those pieces of history that aren’t going to be there very long,” she says of her nostalgic impressionism. “It goes back to a way of life that I would have liked to have lived, if my life had been different. Catching some of the barns and countryside away from the city is near and dear to my heart. It’s something that I haven’t experienced personally, but I can paint it.”

Member artists who attend the festivities can participate in an all-member paint-out, sponsored by Southwest Art, on Saturday, October 1, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Their unframed works are on view on the “wet wall” at the gallery from 2 to 4 p.m. that day. —Ashley M. Biggers

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