Show Preview | Valerie Collymore

Seattle, WA
Fountainhead Gallery, March 30-April 29

Valerie Collymore, Garden Path at the Chateau, oil, 12 x 24.

Valerie Collymore, Garden Path at the Chateau, oil, 12 x 24.

This story was featured in the April 2017 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art  April 2017 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

The French Riviera is deeply rooted in Valerie Collymore’s soul. After a five-month family vacation in her childhood turned into a dual residence, Collymore found a home in French culture that she continues to carry with her today. In her fourth annual solo show at Fountainhead Gallery, Collymore presents images from various locations along the French Riviera, including several from Cap Ferrat and Provence. The show, titled A Passion for Provence: Landscapes, Seascapes and Wooden Bateaux, opens on Thursday, March 30, and there’s an opening reception on Saturday, April 1, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The show features over 20 pieces of various sizes, including 9-by-12-inch canvases completed while the artist traveled through the country. Collymore likes to offer these smaller pieces in each exhibition to give viewers an entry point into both her work and the overwhelmingly beautiful French imagery.

Collymore visited many areas where traditional practices are still in place, such as docks where families still work their “old-school fishing boats.” Collymore also highlights the small huts that dot the countryside and the clear blue waters that surround Cap Ferrat. The artist revisited many areas from her childhood where she remembers climbing and hiking with her siblings, as well as venues where master French Impressionists worked before her.

Collymore is excited to display her paintings of the legendary lavender fields in particular, which she painted during their peak bloom. “It’s really helped me move forward with my passion to explore the French Impressionism technique,” Collymore says. “The parallel strokes give a lushness and a thickness that I think capture the landscape so well. They also allow me to do subtle color transitions so that, every half-inch, I can give the viewer something different.”

But the artist’s main concern is authenticity. “I work so much from photos, but when I am there, I am absorbing everything—the light, the colors, the feeling,” Collymore says. “I feel fortunate that I can remember those feelings, even in Seattle during the winter.” —Mackenzie McCreary

contact information
206.285.4467
www.fountainheadgallery.com

This story was featured in the April 2017 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art  April 2017 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

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