What motivates people to select art as a profession?
Well, it's one way to make lots of money.Not!
Certainly artists don't complain if "lots of money" ends up being a side benefit. But here are some of the real reasons people select art as a profession:
- Painter James Schnirel says, "Painting provides the energizing media for my self-discovery . . ." Also, as he discovers nature, he tries to capture its special spirit by interpreting rather than copying it.
- His son Ben, also a painter, says that ever since he experienced a 30-day "vision quest" in the wilderness near Moab, Utah, he has been obsessed with this magnificent scenery. "It gives me great pleasure to recreate and share with others this very special part of our planet," he says.
- David Whitten has pursued photography because of his concern to protect the natural environment. Jan Henderson draws wild animals partly because she wants to increase public awareness of their beauty and character.
These artists, and others, are currently exhibiting in Park City galleries.
- James Schnirel and his son Ben share exhibition space in the Main Gallery at Kimball Art Center. Immediately, viewers will notice that the artists paint in markedly different styles.
Early in his career, James painted representationally. However, he now prefers to work abstractly in at attempt to capture the "special spirit" mentioned above.
There's no question that landscape is his inspiration. And his paintings hover between realism and abstraction. However, in my estimation, the more abstract they become, the better they are.
My favorites were three small paintings that hang together - "Along the River," "Sea Garden" and "Lake Powell Reflections." Design, color, texture and the other elements of art and principles of design have been combined beautifully. Also impressive is his large acrylic painting "Primitive Dusk."
Ben's style approaches photography because it's highly representational. Nevertheless, he has some strong pieces. His "Double Arch" from Arches National Park won a top award in the National Park's 1989 contest.
Also striking are his large oil painting "Delicate Arch" and the magnificently painted clouds in "Desert Magic." In "Sedona," he relied more on feeling than sight. The intense color of the cliffs elicits an exciting, emotional response from the viewer.
Downstairs in the Badami Gallery, David Whitten displays both hand-colored silver prints and cibachrome prints.
Whitten is attracted to the rich colors of fall; "Aspens" and "Aspens and Mountain Maples" are two stunning examples. He creates an entirely different mood in his print of "Superior Peak, Wasatch Mountain, Utah," since it's bathed in cool colors.
- Repartee Gallery is located close to KAC, just a few steps up Park City's historic Main Street. Although the current exhibit "Going Places" is soon coming to a halt, there's still time to see art by three promising, young artists Steve Adams, Russell Case and Clay Wagstaff.
Case's expertise with watercolor proves that he's definitely found his medium.
When asked why he paints, he says he can't tell you exactly why. But he added, "I do know that I love the visual imagery that the world presents." He's caught up in that visual experience and wants to share it with the viewer.
Artists cannot turn out a "masterpiece" all the time. And Case is no exception. However, one look around at his work proves that he has more successes than most artists.
Two large watercolors "Sun-Touched Taos" and "Taos Morning" are right on, as are some of his smaller paintings of open-air markets in Mexico. However, spattering with opaque white to create snow tends to trivialize some of his works.
Early paintings by Adams lose their appeal, mainly because the canvases are shrouded with drab black. But when his palette warms up in later painting, so does the response of the viewer.
In "First Light," he starts to capture the warmth in the top half of the painting but then loses it. In "Hayfields - Huntsville, Utah," some areas reflect warmth, but now qother areas not quite in other areas.
The artist finally breaks through the darkness in "Desert Patterns," "Desert Road - Midday," and other works where values are lighter and colors warmer.
Wagstaff's style vacillates when he moves from drawing to painting. The latter is stylized and reflects a surreal quality. Sometimes his clouds are light and airy. Other times, they hover ominously over the landscape.
He's not interested in tickling the surface with his brush to create details and texture. He likes large forms with crisp edges; he carefully models them to suggest the third dimension.
- Saguaro Gallery, located close to the top of Main Street, has some exciting art that's attracting considerable attention.
Gallery owner David Lott is proud of a new - and old - work of art. It's a fossilized tusk of a woolley mammoth. He says it dates back some 20,000 to 30,000 years.
But what's new about it. Alaskan artist Mary Mueller has scrimshawed imagery on it by scratching on it with engraving tools. She reportedly took nine months to complete it. Titled "Pleistocene Dispute," the carved tusk is priced at $70,000.
Once inside the gallery, you'll be attracted to colored pencil drawings by Jan Henderson; paintings by Valoy Eaton, Randall Lake, Arnold Friberg, Bill Whitaker and Jim Wilcox; and sculpture by Blair Buswell, Ed Fraughton and Stan Wanlass. But these are only about one-fourth of the local and national artists represented in this impressive gallery.
For addresses, phone numbers and closing dates, please look under GALLERIES, right.