art esprit

Red is a warm and powerful color. It can overpower most everything around it. That is why when my husband and I went in search of a couch for our new house we were not thinking about the color red. We sat on, bounced around on, lay down on, and ran around more couches than either the sales people at the furniture stores would care to remember and more than I care to tell you about. But there it was. In it's sexy (read durable) microsuede self. Deep and soft, wide enough for a great snuggle and afternoon nap. Yes, this was the one. Looks and quality to fit my designer husband's needs and color and comfort I just had to have. But three months later, our freshly painted "kettle pond" wall above it was still just "kettle pond" Nothing in our collection of artwork could sit above this red beauty and compete. Until May. Enter Dustan Knight with her Metal/Petal exhibition last April at our gallery. Our walls were filled with the most vibrant huge floral and woodland watercolor paintings. Yes, watercolor. I know that you are looking at the piece above and thinking where is the frame? Dustan paints very large scale works (and some small ones too!) which she mounts through a process she has devised onto a wooden cradle support. She has a finish which she applies to them which protect them from UV damage as well. The whole process is so unique that she has created a videotape with instructions for other artists to learn the process by. This painting we were gifted after doing a photoshoot for Dustan of the exhibition. In choosing the piece, I didn't have the couch in mind. No artist does, sadly. The piece is 40 by 40 inches and is filled with a rose colored woods. It is filled with brightly colored branches and soft red mist. It is calm and quiet. It is red. My couch loves it and lives in harmony with it. My two girls are convinced that the faeries live behind the chartreuse tree. Dustan's paintings range from huge florals which we have shown to scenes of fantastic animals with children riding them to woodlands and water. She is a painter who came from the NYC expressionistic movement and keeps that edge in most of the works I have seen. Need to see more? Go to her website at dustanknight.com or stop by the gallery this summer. We will have some of her brand new larger than life florals splashing up the place through labor day. She will also be offering workshops with us at the studio gallery - stay tuned!

The word for the day is.... a German word! ..... Wundertüte ... which means surprise bag or a bag which you do not know what is inside until you open it. (say voon - dher- too-teh , it will make you feel good!)