Loveland, CO
Loveland Museum/Gallery, May 3-June 15
This story was featured in the May 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art May 2014 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story!
This month, the Loveland and Thompson Valley Rotary clubs unveil the 23rd annual Governor’s Art Show at the Loveland Museum/Gallery. Formerly the Governor’s Invitational Art Show and Sale, this year’s show features up to four artworks each from 56 Colorado-based artists and opens with a ticketed gala and artists’ reception at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 3. The show opens to the public on Sunday, May 4, with special events including a Quick Draw at 9 a.m. and a live auction at noon at nearby Osborn Farm.
According to show director Pam Osborn, since 2013, the show has featured a broader range of media than in earlier years. “The majority is still very traditional, but we’re going to throw in some surprises,” Osborn says. “This year, we have dynamic new artists joining the esteemed cadre of exhibitors, making the show fresh and exciting,” says show committee member and Columbine Gallery owner John Kinkade. Here we introduce you to a few of the artists participating in this year’s show.
Plein-air painter Leslie Allen says she also loves exploring in the studio and pushing her plein-air sketches toward abstraction. “The landscape is what excites me,” she says. “It is my muse.” Patti André has been a professional artist for over 35 years. Her landscape, still-life, and figurative oil paintings and her bronze sculptures reflect her love of nature and travel.
Although Denver-based painter Heather Arenas paints animals, plein-air landscapes, and still lifes, she is particularly fond of painting the figure. She employs bright colors and bold brushwork to reveal the inner strength of her subjects. In her exploration of different ways to move and sculpt paint, Stephanie Hartshorn turns her panels sideways, upside down, or places them on the floor while building her landscapes, urban scenes, and still lifes.
Employing bold, unblended brushwork and layers of paint, Deb Komitor’s scenes come together at a distance but dissolve to near abstraction up close. Trees and ravens feature prominently in her landscape and animal paintings. Working in oils or pastels, Mary Landis loves plein-air painting on a beautiful day. Her inspiration comes mainly from the animals and landscapes of the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest.
Photographer Gordon Middleton spent his professional career traveling North America and Europe. Today he lives in Colorado, where he explores nature, wildlife, and travel photography and black-and-white images. William Stoehr uses a limited palette of acrylic paints to create larger-than-life portraits. His dark, haunting female faces, looming up to 7 feet tall, explore self-awareness.
Schooled from a young age by her artist father, Karen Vance grew up “knowing good art” and being surrounded by it daily. She paints atmospheric, tonalist landscapes of her Rocky Mountain home. Kay Witherspoon’s wildlife, equine, and western landscape paintings reflect her childhood experiences on her family’s Wyoming ranch, her work for the Forest Service, and the scenery near her Colorado home.
Working in watercolors, oils, and pastels, Nancy Wylie paints landscapes and florals that reflect her awe of God’s creation, from golden fall aspens to rushing mountain streams and flowered meadows. —Laura Rintala
contact information
970.663.0919
www.governorsartshow.org
Featured in the May 2014 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art May 2014 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story!
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