Dallas, TX
Southwest Gallery, December 10-31
Kent Wallis, Luscious Flower Garden, oil, 30 x 40.
This story was featured in the December 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
Utah artist Kent Wallis’ impressionistic paintings of flower gardens and Italian scenes have graced the walls of galleries for years, but now the artist is adding something new to his repertoire. In his upcoming annual solo show at Southwest Gallery, Wallis shows 20 new pieces including the idyllic flower gardens he is known for, as well as new experiments in painting autumn leaves and winter weather. The show opens on Saturday, December 10, with an artist’s reception from 1 to 5 p.m.
Wallis says the show includes more paintings of autumn in all its glory than he has previously done. The artist has experimented with the season off and on over the past few years but decided to focus his efforts on the subject recently when he felt he was getting stuck creatively. “If I get stuck painting the same kinds of things over and over again, I start to get a little too tight and uninspired,” Wallis says. “Whenever that happens to me I can see it, so I go outside and get back to my roots. I spend more time outside and less in the studio, and the paintings become fresher and sharper.”
The artist, who usually begins a piece en plein air and finishes it in the studio, says he felt he was “in the doldrums” around mid-September when the fall leaves were just beginning to show their colors. So he packed up his field easel and began to paint the changing atmosphere. He says the outdoors renewed his vigor for creating and that when he went back to his usual subjects, his work became sharper and seemed to have more energy.
Wallis began painting over 40 years ago and has continued to hone his technique and refine his style, which combines romanticism and impressionism inspired by French and American artists of the 19th century. Bob Malenfant, owner and president of Southwest Gallery, says the gallery has represented Wallis since 2009 and hosts a solo show for him every year. The new autumn pieces, along with scenes of the California missions and around his home in Logan, UT, provide a complete representation of an artist unafraid to tackle new inspirations. —Mackenzie McCreary
contact information
972.960.8935
www.swgallery.com
This story was featured in the December 2016 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art December 2016 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.
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