Six pieces from this month’s Birds in Art exhibition at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum
Hilarie Lambert
“MORNING BREAK was inspired by the views in my neighborhood. When I go walking, the harbor is about two blocks away, and the marsh grasses combined with the ibis, egrets, herons, and other birds are always beautiful together. This particular piece was a combination of wanting the scene to be almost graphic and abstract in its qualities, and pushing the warm colors versus the cools. I wanted the grasses to take on all the warm colors and then the birds and water to reflect the cools. It was a fun piece to work on, almost like a jigsaw puzzle—finding the pieces that would make it all come together.”
representation
City Art Gallery, Greenville, NC; I. Pinckney Simons Gallery, Beaufort, SC; www.hlambert.com.
upcoming show
Group show, Lambert Gray Gallery & Studios, Charleston, SC, October 7.
Krystii Melaine
“As the earthquake off Japan sent a huge tsunami flooding inland, I imagined an isoseismic line connecting Japan to other points on the globe where the shock waves might be felt. A sudden disturbance sends all manner of beings into a flutter of uncertainty. Perhaps a flock of scarlet ibis on the coast of South America took to the skies in a beautiful explosion of movement at that exact moment. With the expressive lines of bills, wings, and legs going in all directions, I focused on the abstract patterns, the air between the forms, and a sense of continuing expansion outward from a central point. The limited but strong color and careful tonal control were more important to the concept than painting individual feathers. Stand back and squint, and you will see what the abstract artist who lurks within me was painting.”
representation
Legacy Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, and Jackson, WY; Mountain Trails Gallery, Park City, UT; Decoys & Wildlife Gallery, Frenchtown, NJ; Big Horn Galleries, Cody, WY, and Tubac, AZ; Hayden Hays Galleries, Colorado Springs, CO; www.krystiimelaine.com.
upcoming shows
Miniatures by the Lake, Coeur d’Alene Galleries, Coeur d’Alene, ID, September 9-24.
Quest for the West, Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN, September 11-October 9.
Legacy of Nature group show, Legacy Gallery, Jackson, WY, September 16.
Buffalo Bill Art Show, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY, September 23-24.
Mark Eberhard
“Winter in Ohio, where I live, can be very cold and gray. The bright spots during this time are the visits of a variety of birds to our feeders. On the really cold and snowy days there can be two dozen or more cardinals, male and female. Some will be scratching in the snow looking for sunflower seeds while others fly from limb to limb. Often the bare branches of a honeysuckle bush will be full of brilliant red male cardinals resting and waiting their turn. This scene certainly brings a smile to my face and, I hope, to those who view my sculpture.”
representation
Astoria Fine Art, Jackson, WY; Row House Gallery, Milford, OH; The Sporting Gallery, Middleburg, VA; www.markeberhard.com.
upcoming shows
One-person show, Astoria Fine Art, August 31-September 9.
Western Visions, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY, September 16.
Waterfowl Festival, Easton, MD, November 10-13.
Plantation Wildlife Arts Festival, Thomasville Center for the Arts, Thomasville, GA, November 18-20.
Edward Aldrich
“I have always loved owls. Their mystery and beauty are entirely compelling. In creating MOONLIT, I wanted to capture the innate ‘owlness’ of these amazing creatures. So I tried to infuse the painting with their inherent aspects: being active at night, how they take off with a burst of speed after prey, and, of course, their beauty. MOONLIT is a mood-oriented piece. It was designed with a certain visual impact in mind. It is not an experience I had but one I created. I wanted to portray a night scene even though my reference was a daylight image. I was also interested in having the owl very close to the viewer, even cropping off the wing tips to create a more abstract design; this abstraction is also apparent in the many angular diagonals that are in the piece.”
representation
Saks Galleries, Denver, CO; Claggett/Rey Gallery, Vail, CO; Sage Creek Gallery, Sante Fe, NM; Mountain Trails Gallery, Jackson, WY, and Sedona, AZ; Evergreen Fine Art, Evergreen, CO; E.S. Lawrence Gallery, Aspen, CO; Sorrel Sky Gallery, Durango, CO; www.edwardaldrich.com.
upcoming shows
Western Visions, National Museum of Wildlife Art, Jackson, WY, September 16.
Buffalo Bill Art Show, Buffalo Bill Historical Center, Cody, WY, September 23-24.
Small Works, Great Wonders, National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City, OK, November 17.
September Vhay
“One cold February morning, these two chickadees were basking in the sun on an aspen tree off my back deck. I was struck by the beauty of the light bouncing off of the branch and the birds. The branch had a Japanese feel to it, so I continued with an oriental theme by leaving a large portion of the painting untouched. I often leave a lot of empty space in my paintings; I feel that it gives the viewer’s eye a place to rest. The purple-gray wash in the background makes the yellow of the birds sing, since it is a complementary color to the yellow. To give the background a bit more depth, I played with the temperature of the colors and added a bit of a cool gray on top of the warm purple wash.”
representation
Trio Fine Art, Jackson, WY; Gerald Peters Gallery, Santa Fe, NM; www.vhay.com.
upcoming show
Solo show, Trio Fine Art, December 7-17.
Frank LaLumia
“I lived in Santa Fe, NM, for 22 years. During that time, one of my favorite painting venues was the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in the Rio Grande Corridor of central New Mexico, home to thousands of migratory birds, including whooping cranes, sandhill cranes, snow geese, Canada geese, ducks of every stripe and character, and more. This piece is an attempt to capture some of that magic: the clacking of the cranes, the cry of the geese, the mass take-offs, the air vibrating with beating wings blotting out the late-afternoon sun—all set in the beautiful Rio Grande Valley, dressed up in her best winter colors. My goal was to create a painting with a visceral reaction to this awesome winter pageant.”
representation
Bottoms Gallery, Montecito, CA; Cogswell Gallery, Vail, CO; Greenberg Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM; Tirage Fine Art Gallery, Pasadena, CA; LongCoat Fine Art, Ruidoso, NM; www.lalumia.com.
upcoming shows
Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibition, Foothills Art Center, Golden, CO, September 17-November 6.
The Allure of Water: On Location With the Plein Air Painters of America, Haggin Museum, Stockton, CA, October 15-January 22.
Featured in “Taking Flight,” a portfolio, in September 2011.