“Light and Shadow” with David Knowlton and Martha Kellar
SANTA FE, NM: July 11, 2017; Sorrel Sky Gallery will host a two-person show, “Light and Shadow,” featuring the paintings of David Knowlton and Martha Kellar. Opening reception is from 5:00-7:30 pm on October 6, 2017 at Sorrel Sky Gallery’s downtown location, 125 W. Palace Ave. The show will continue through the month of October.
"When their works are exhibited together you can observe the elegant, seemingly effortless way they both control light and shadow." - Shanan Campbell Wells
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Danville, KS by David Knowlton[/caption]
Knowlton, paints in his studio in Western Wisconsin where his imagery reflects his travels. Driving extensively throughout the West and Midwest, sticking to back roads and Blue Highways, he takes his time, stopping to take photographs, find inspiration, and “hang out.” His stylized paintings of iconic structures, trains, bridges and machinery, blends the real and the ideal. Knowlton places emphasis on abstract elements; color relationships, the large shapes and patterns cast by shadows, and the negative space and edges surrounding objects. “It is the shadow that I initially react to, the abstract forms they make. I try to simplify that, filling the canvas with large, interesting shapes, with light and shadows...paring down the image. I believe my most successful pieces are those that are the most simplified.”
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Jewels Of Light by Martha Kellar[/caption]
Kellar, a New Mexico resident, is always most interested in whatever piece she has on her easel at that moment. Her use of light in her still lifes, figurative works and landscapes can be said to reflect the classic styles which initially influenced her. What Kellar finds so fascinating about painting is how the process is always a new experiment, “it’s never the same twice.” For her, the feelings are fresh, the thoughts are different, and challenges are invariably exciting and rewarding. “What always moves me is beauty. My idea of beauty, at any rate. The intensity of inspiration is directly relative to how beautiful I think the painting could be. Design, composition, technique, all must be subordinate to, and support, the beauty I perceive in color, form, and movement of light and shadow.”
Gallery owner Shanan Campbell Wells admires the distinctive ability each artist demonstrates as they use light and shadow in their work. “David and Martha approach their canvases from such different paths. Yet when their works are exhibited together you can observe the elegant, seemingly effortless way they both control light and shadow...creating texture, interpreting reality, and breathing life into their paintings.”
Sorrel Sky Gallery’s visionary approach to Western art allows both new and experienced art enthusiasts the opportunity to select from a distinctive collection of contemporary and traditional fine art and jewelry. Founded in Durango, CO in 2002, Sorrel Sky Gallery opened its second location in Santa Fe, NM in 2014. Representing several acclaimed and renowned painters, sculptors and jewelers, including Kevin Red Star, Star Liana York, and former U.S. Senator Ben Nighthorse, among others.