River Arts Center Gallery
Exhibit Ended: November 9th 2011
Jan Harvey
Polo, Illinois
Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor and Painted Gourds
Admission for this exhibit, as for all exhibits we feature, is free of charge.
Clinton Art Association is pleased to exhibit the works of Jan Harvey in her first one-woman art show. Featured are her landscapes, still lifes and watercolors
of country life, as one of her first loves is the bounty she finds in rural
life as a “Pinecreeker” outside Oregon, Illinois. Recently she has been visiting locations in the countryside and oil painting “en plein air” – literally,
painting on location in open air.
When she retired from her career as a registered nurse in Arizona, Jan
was trying to decide what she would choose as a new interest when her husband,
Ron, suggested she take a few art classes.
Her earliest art training was obtained through the classes she took at Yavapai College in
Prescott, where she learned drawing, watercolor and printmaking. She has continued her art education since
that time, taking additional classes and participating in workshops with
nationally known fine arts artists.
Jan’s artistic endeavors are not limited to fine arts; she has applied
her talents deftly to some not-so-common surfaces. We have all seen painted saw blades, which
Jan has done – but how many artists get to paint tipis? With the assistance of her husband,
Ron, this year Jan painted a 14’ tipi for the Oregon Trails Days using a faux method, transforming
the canvas tipi into a suede surface upon which she pained a design of her own creation. Jan’s
tipi, along with many others, will be on display through Halloween at White
Pines State Park. You can learn more
about these tipis at http://www.oregontraildays.org/tipis.
She shares her artistic enthusiasm through teaching classes, and has
taught gourd-painting workshops for the Rock River Valley Painter’s Guild and
local garden clubs. Her work is also
displayed at the Next Picture Show Gallery in Dixon, Illinois and Eagles’s Nest
Gallery, located in Conover Square, in Oregon Illinois.
Jan Harvey has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2008
Best Oil Painting award at the Phidian Art Show in Dixon, Illinois. She is a member of the Rock River Valley
Painter’s Guild and the Eagle’s Nest Art Guild, as well as the Clinton Art
Association. An unusual point of
interest: Jan was the first logo and
sketch artist for the Country Register Newspaper, which is distributed throughout the United States and
Canada.
Jan Harvey's gallery and studio are
located in the home she shares with her husband, Ron, in Polo, Illinois. Please call Jan at 815-946-3911, or contact
her via email at janharveycfw@hotmail.com
for an appointment or for further information.
River Arts Center Art Gallery
Exhibit Ended: September 18
We are
pleased to offer the public an experience in fine art by not one
but two talented
artists.
Judy O. Gray of Bettendorf,
Iowa, works in pastels, acrylics and oil.
Kevin Pearson of Racine, Wisconsin,
works in clay and glass.
We hope you
have an opportunity to visit this diverse and dynamic exhibit.
Admission for this exhibit, as for all exhibits we feature, is free of charge.
Judy O. Gray
Acrylic, Oils, and Pastels
Always in demand
in the Mississippi River Valley, Gray has exhibited extensively in the
Quad-Cities area, as well fostering in others her own love of art though offering
art classes.
My work is primarily impressionistic. The challenge of a flat surface or an
unformed mass is the impetus for my creations.
It is the exciting process of capturing an impression provided by the
light, shape, or event. Opening my mind
to the multitudes of color and form is the intense exercise that can seemingly
stop time. This is the poetry and the
music that an artist breathes through their hands and minds. I endeavor to create an emotion through my
art and in our meeting.
Judy shares
her her artistic goals, giving us an overarching philosophy for her work, on her
website:
My goals are to encourage an
appreciation of any art form, to bring an emotion when viewing my art, and to
share whatever knowledge I have with those that want to listen.
Photographic Credit: Mr. Bill Meyers
Kevin Pearson is Art Department Chair at
The Prairie School in Racine, Wisconsin, and sits on the Board of Directors of
the Racine Art Museum Association. He
teaches/mentors middle and high school students in clay and glass and is
responsible for the hot glass program the school offers.
I have made wheel-thrown pottery for over 35
years. My interests have ranged from
porcelain to stoneware. But through all
of the years, I am still most interested in the flowing lines that best show
the form of each piece. My exploration
back into raku has been rewarding and, as always, a learning experience. I find that working in both clay and glass
each has its challenges, but there are many similarities. And like my work in clay, I am most
interested in flowing lines that best show the form of each piece.
Now
that I am into my fourth decade of pottery making, I have a better
understanding of my work, the artistic journey and the mentoring that I
received and am fortunate to offer to my students in turn. I enjoy making forms that trace a single
graceful line. I enjoy making pots that
are unique as well as elegant. The
surface decorating style goes back to my love of simple wood block prints,
where there is a contrast between negative and positive space.
Kevin makes special note to warmly
acknowledge his early clay mentors. Ben
Jasper, Art Department Chair at Augustana
College, fostered
Kevin’s creativity and mastery of clay media as a young student. He still remembers, as well,
the gentle words of guidance from Karl Christiansen, Dean of Iowa Potters:
Pitchers should pour without dripping,
handles should feel comfortable in the hand, and glazes should help show off
the pot but not dominate it.
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