For some odd reason, this DMV critic tonight decided to take a look at the Wayne Art Center Online Faculty Exhibition. Why is it odd? Well... I'm in the DMV and the Wayne Art Center is waaay out in Wayne, PA.
This is a really good show; in fact, it is quite a good show!
Super hard to pick a Best in Show when there are so many talented artists here... to start, Ellen Cooper s an outstanding portrait painter - really top of the food chain portraitist is that rare ability to not only capture a true likeness (I assume), but also something unique about the person being depicted. Anne Graham is also a really good portrait artist - see her Helen here.
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| ELLEN COOPER Lucca - Oil on Linen |
Both of Valerie Craig's entries are also oil and also superbly done. She has a rough brush which gives her oils an interesting texture which is gorgeous and deceptively appearing to be easy to do, when in fact it is a skill that only a truly gifted painter can deliver and Craig is indeed gifted!
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| VALERIE CRAIG The Hook - Oil |
Also liked Louise Dusiberre's interesting light capture in her August Reflections pastel. Joe Gyurcsak's Patina is a quizzical titled (I don't see what I understand to be a "patina") but it does deliver a really outstanding painting of a most pedestrian subject, which he elevates from the mundane to the sublime by the sheer gift of art. Neal Hughes also uses his vast talents to work on the truck subject, and once again delivers - his oil Ranch Truck is a top notch painting. Interesting how two different painters, both choosing a similar subject in different settings, deliver. Hughes muted colors, and his choice of color for the truck, makes it a magnet for the eyes - well done!
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| JOE GYURCSAK Patina - Acrylic on Panel |
Kudos to Georganna Lenssen for taking a "real" subject and use powerful abstraction skills to deliver the reality of the subject submerged in a really attractive pseudo abstract! Stefanie Lieberman can also paint really well! She's sort of (in my mind) in the same painting trance as Lenssen, but Lieberman pushes the reality a bit further to the real and in the process can flex some damn good cloud-painting artistic muscles!
I give Nichole Michaud's the "Best Abstract of the Show" award for her oil pastel on paper titled Eighty Three. Along the same lines, Sharon McHugh can really paint flowers! See them here.
On the subject of flowers (there are quite a few in the show)... remember what I wrote about Lenssen and Lieberman? Claudia Rilling does the same thing and her Peonies practically explode out of the canvas on a burst of abstract color.
Jon Redmond painted beets, not flowers, but they are just as beautifully delivered! Just like two old trucks discussed earlier, art is a powerful vehicle (no pun intended) to elevate through the power of a good painter.
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| JON REDMOND Beets on a Plate - Oil on Board |
Stuart White has my top vote for the best watercolors in the show. See them here.
Frankly... there's not a single bad work in the show! Congrats to the faculty!
