Mission Statement

Our Mission is to promote art and art education in the community and among its members. To encourage and promote a public interest and understanding of art; to create and develop a closer relationship between art and the community and further the education and artistic development of its members.


Monday, January 23, 2012

Figures and Poetry

February 3, 2012 Linda Helgason’s Figure Paintings will illustrate poetry at the Upstairs Gallery in Ashland, Kentucky. This reading will be part of the First Friday art walk and is an adult only event.

for time and location, see the Upstairs Gallery's Facebook page:


Linda is well known in the area for her inventive figure drawings. She has gain the respect of her fellow artists throughout the tri-state for her devotion and passion for art.



“I think Linda's figure pieces have a relaxed and graceful quality. She makes good use of contour lines and value changes to express form.” ~Linda Harbison, sculptor and watercolorist, Flatwoods, KY



"I like the very direct and decisive lines of her figures. The beautiful and bold washes complement her work." ~Bruce H. Bowersock, artist and teacher, Ona, WV



“Linda's art shows the beauty of the human body with gesture, line and movement. Linda is a true artist. She paints for herself and to show everyone the beauty of our bodies.” ~ Pati Payne, artist, Ironton, OH



“Linda's work is expressive as she creatively and artistically represents the beauty of human figures turning them into beautiful artwork.” ~ Laura Moul, Photographer, Milton, WV

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Plein Air Through The Back Door

I wanted to work from life but also wanted to stay in where it was warm, so I stood at my kitchen door and painted part of the scene in front of me.




I call it, "Looking Out My Back Door" with apologies to CCR.



Looking Out My Back Door
Watercolor
Linda Harbison
I literally stood looking out the back door to paint it. A while back at the artists of The Renaissance Art Gallery were talking about finding subject matter near at hand to where ever you happen to be. As usual, I can't remember who said what, but the idea of not making a special trek to some special place to find a worthy subject stuck with me. So I decided to try to find things to paint in my own neighborhood. I live in Flatwoods Kentucky, on top of a hill. My neighborhood is a collection of identical ranch houses. So when I look outside, I see the rooftops of all these simple, rectangular houses. There is also a baseball field in the distance, though you can only see part of a dugout from this point of view. I took several sessions to sketch the scene directly on watercolor paper. Since I had the luxury of seeing it every day, I watched the light from morning to evening to see when it was most interesting. It turned out that late afternoon to early evening light was the most dramatic, so I painted between about 3:30pm and 5pm.

~Linda Harbison, Artist
The Renaissance Art Gallery
 
Note:
 
This and other pieces by Linda Harbison are now hanging and on display at the Renaissance Art Gallery
 900 8th Street, Suite 20,
Huntington, WV