Green 10 exhibition at Spring Hill College

Places East of Here, no. 14, oil on canvas, 60″ x 60″

I’ve had some recent requests for large paintings lately–large for me, anyway.  After a long period of making smaller paintings, I’m reminded of the stamina needed to get through a piece that takes weeks, rather than days, to complete.  This is currently hanging at the Eichold Gallery at Spring Hill College in Mobile, as part of the Green 10 exhibit.  As the name implies, it’s an environmentally themed show featuring work by: Raine Bedsole, Alan Gerson, Fred Lawyer, Karoline Schleh, Greg Shelnutt, Dave Truesdale, Casey Downing, Jr., Rachel Wright, & Tony Wright.  The show runs through September 25th.

From the statement I gave to Mobile Press Register’s arts editor, Thomas Harrison:  “Two of the paintings in this show (Places East of Here, no. 14 & History, Revisited) are inspired by areas along the causeway that I’ve been photographing for the past twenty-five years.  I’ve noticed changes occurring from sediment flowing into the bay and also damage from recent storms.  But my paintings are more about the beauty I find there, so maybe the environmental message suggested by the show’s title slips into the viewer’s consciousness under the radar, so to speak.

The third painting has a large area of very green banana trees and a crumbling New Orleans street in the foreground. Poor, lovely city; when I moved there in 2000, Bill Finch warned me to take my Stauter boat.  Unfortunately, he was right. I chose this painting, Late Music on Dante Street, for the show because of the obvious color note, and, despite recent efforts to protect it, the city seems doomed.

As for the show’s title, well, that word “green” has really been twisted into the latest nom de correctness, hasn’t  it?  But in this case, it’s a good choice.”

right:     Late Music on Dante Street, oil on canvas & wood, 15″ x 15″