paintings by Sallie Clay Lanham
in water colour and oil

 

 Port of Portofino
in water colour

Artist Reception
Thursday, January 26, 2012
5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Artist Statement

 

The exhibit of my work is titled “Water Symphony” which is to promote awareness of water, both its beauty and fragility. My inspiration comes from exhibiting in the “Shaped by Water” exhibition sponsored by the Center for Appalachian Studies at Eastern Kentucky University and the Kentucky River Keepers. The traveling show was at EKU, Gallery on Main, Richmond and Main Street Gallery in Lexington.

My “Water Symphony” exhibit will feature different interpretations of water in seascapes, rivers, lakes, streams, ponds, swimming, and boats. I strive toward the moment while painting when the landscape in my mind and the physical landscape merge.

Many times I am asked how long it took to do a painting and my answer is a lifetime.  Experience at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, an art educator in both elementary and college, as well as a graphic designer with work reproduced in publications locally and nationally. And a month of painting at the Virginia Center for Creative Arts sponsored by a Kentucky Foundation for Women grant add to the process.

Seascapes: Watercolours from my travels to the Caribbean, Fort Jefferson on the Gulf of Mexico, and Mexico. Painting on location allows me to portray the atmosphere within the scene because of the exciting light and color. The lone figure of a fisherman mending his net titled “ Safe Water, Safe Fish” reminds us of the chemicals in our seas.

Rivers: Watercolour painted from my cousin’s dock at Belknap Beach on the Ohio River was inspired by the sunset reflected on the river.

Lakes: Watercolour of a lone boat on a calm lake where I sought to awaken an emotion in the viewer by capturing the poetry of nature as the subject.

Streams: Since Elkhorn Creek runs behind my house the motivation is high because the choice of subject is personal. There are paintings of the shapes of trees against a skyline, roots from a Sycamore tree on the stream banks, Kayaks waiting to be taken out by friends, and a tree reflected in the water in Spring and Summer.

Ponds: Three oil paintings, one of a pond on Peaks Mill Road with clouds reflecting in the water, another is of a pond showing a meandering path of water through bending grass, and a painting of the same pond with a red canoe.

Swimming: Oil painting of a girl coming out of the water with the movement of light and shadow patterns in the water surrounding her. The sinuous gesture lines are felt in the motion.

Boats: Watercolour painting titled “Port of Portofino” is a study of reflected water patterns and changing colors. Watercolour painting of a fisherman shows just his reflection in the water as he stands in a boat.

I hope this exhibition will alert people to our watersheds being laid waste to careless industrial, agricultural and subdivision chemical runoff.

 

 

 

Grand Theatre Art Gallery
308 St. Clair Street, Frankfort, Ky.