Friday, September 10 proved to be an evening featuring artistic success in the Historic Third Ward. At Tory Folliard Gallery, Terrence James Coffman explained the painting process used in his thick impasto oils on canvas featured in the gallery's exhibition, “Rusted Hearts and Gardens.” These luminous, non-objective canvases radiate color and life with extremely loose and literal visual references often illuminated by the painting's titles.
While Coffman uses over 20 layers of paint in some areas of these images, which includes the heavy underpainting, he also scratches, inscribes, collages, applies pure paint directly from the tube, and accesses both paint brushes plus an assorted variety of interesting tools to create his pictures on canvas. Coffman also explained he uses only the feelings from his heart, instead of any notebook sketches or pencil drawings when he paints, while often working on several at one time.
The heart shapes appearing in this series from the exhibition present a surprising element to his artwork, one he is unaccustomed to seeing. This first occured when a dragonfly image appeared in a one particular painting he was working on. He was unable to paint it out. Finaly, he discovered he needed the image to remain. When it was finsihed he found a dragonfly sitting on his window ledge, which his friend described as the power of his creative thoughts. This became similart to his hearts. At first he tried to paint them out, then realized that they belonged for a reason, perhaps attributed to working out the pain from a lost love relationship. Coffman considers painting very similar to dancing, where the movement of the brush and paint defines the steps in shapes taken by the colors on the canvas.
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In Folliard's East Gallery, Brook Slane works with oils on reclaimed plastic and wood recovered from his grandfather's home in the exhibition titled “Fruit.” His refined, miniature figures and garden fruit (usually anthropomorphic and apples), remain primarily unframed. Slane also scratches and textures his surfaces to give the appearance of weathering. When he does use frames, again found or recycled objects, he then distresses or bakes them in the oven to achieve the particular patina he desires. The intimate exhibit accentuates the detailed brushwork and multi-layered process Slane incoporates into all his artwork.
Slane's inspiration grows from a story or narrative in his mind where he plays a character in these atmospheric fairytale settings recalled on canvas where apples have eyes and frolic in blue seas, either alone or with other creatures and groups of fruit. The contrast evident in these two exhibitions by Coffman and Slane sets up a colorful imaginative gallery world waiting to be explored. If these exhibitions were missed on Friday evening, take an opportunity to visit them while they continue through the first fall month until October 9.
The Marshall Building's premiere collaborative art event happened Friday night on September 10 where the over 20 art galleries and venues housed inside awaited guests so they could display their enthusiasm for creativity. The entire building flowed with visitors coming and going all evening while musicians played in the lobbies and refreshments were provided in the galleries.
Elaine Erickson Gallery featured a small retrospective by Joseph Friebert (1935-2000) through his works on paper while her next-door neighbor Grava Gallery hosted Tom McCann's pastels on lacquered wood, and a series of photographs from film. Reginald Baylor answered questions and discussed his unique painting process in his street side studio with those participants perhaps interested in his original clothing, coloring books and exceptional limited edition prints or vibrant images.
The lower level's Morgan Oldenburg enlivened her new Spill Gallery with abstracts while she looks towards a future providing custom artwork for homes and businesses. Bridget Griffith Evans continues with her portraiture while awaiting Lucky Star Studio's grand opening during October in the same building, upper level floor. Luminosity, Light Ideas Gallery, and The Milwaukee Potter's Guild contributed their own brand of creativity to the evening event.
Visitors crowded the second floor in Gallery 218, who celebrated their 20th anniversary in July, THE Fine Art Gallery, Merge Gallery along with Rachel Quirk's and Zing Musmann's one room studio space that recently opened. Grotta and Company's rich fabric designs provided an opulent profusion of color and pattern, impossible to experience in one visit, in her large working silk screen studio and showroom.
On the fifth floor, art consultant Catherine R. Davidson allowed a peek through her doors for the evening, while J. Shimon and J. Lindemann spoke to an overflowing room at the Portrait Society Gallery. Their recent exhibition titled the “Real Photo Postcard Survey Project" requires several viewings to fully appreciate. A perfect September night introduced the historic Marshall Arts Building to the community as the place to enjoy and visit for discovering both Fine Art and Creative Living, which holds the promise of enjoying more artistic evenings in the near future.
