From plein-air to abstract, painting is flourishing in Central Texas. Local painters are bringing their unique visions to this eclectic artistic form. With a bit of research and legwork, you can find an original painting that’s right for you.

Plein-air painting is a physically demanding act of cowboy-like toughness and artistic ingenuity. It is a quick-witted process, a rapid-fire assault akin to abstract expressionism. As a rule, this type of painting is done on location over the course of several hours. The artist gambles on good weather and stands alone in the sun to paint. He must work quickly to capture the scene and light before they change. Plein-air painting is Gordon Fowler’s forte. He braves heat and chiggers to capture a peaceful image of horses at dusk—a fleeting moment of ranch life. With superior drawing skills and sense of composition, Fowler paints magnificent landscapes and scenes of homely beauty. Fowler’s work can be seen in the hill country at The Gallery at Spicewood.

Another powerful and prolific painter in the area is Bunny Oliver. Oliver travels to Europe and Honduras throughout the year, but claims Austin as her home (B. Oliver Studio/Gallery). Her work is a mix of street and market scenes, landscapes, gardens, and cut flowers in contrasting, cheerful colors. In cut-flower pieces, she expertly fades the background and sharpens the delineation of certain flowers, much like a photographer adjusting the focal point. Her impressive résumé includes representation by galleries in Texas, as well as in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Vail, Colorado. Proceeds from Oliver’s oil paintings of the people and sites of Honduras fund a scholarship program she started in 2002 to help Honduran children attend school.

Still life painting is the practice of choice for many night owls and the control freaks of the art world. Unlike with plein-air painting, the artist has control over the lighting and all elements of the object being painted. Two fine practitioners of still life painting work under one roof: Pablo Toboada and Oscar Riquelme of Artamici Fine Art Gallery. For one series of paintings, Riquelme begins by making a boat and setting it up under a lamp in his studio. Though the newspaper-and-balsa-wood model is tiny, the final paintings are much larger. In the paintings, the boats are dressed up in different guises—Noah’s ark and a luxury cruise liner. Riquelme’s ingenuity and thoughtfulness are evident. The cruise liner at night is a soothing behemoth, lightly textured, with a variety of sleek blues activating the whole canvas. The boat’s reflection in the water is a ghostly image of stock market figures.

Pablo Toboada’s strong use of color, directional light, and line quality combine in great compositions. One series of still life paintings, featuring lemons, an apple, and a spindle shell, borrows imagery from scientific drawings to make interesting backgrounds—a curious contrast. He plays with the geometry of the objects’ organic curves interacting with their scientific surroundings. When asked about the unusual backgrounds and titles, Pablo explained, “I found this book at a used book store and bought it because the technical drawings and captions were interesting. In the book, the captions make no mention of apples, lemons, or shells. I changed them a little.”
Abstract painters often derive imagery from real objects. They blur line, dimension, and color to evoke mood and emotion instead of photographic realism. Houston-based Sylvia Angeli paints huge pears, so big you wouldn’t want to eat them. The texture is blurred—hazy and mysterious—and the colors are warm, inviting earth tones. Her work can be seen at Gallery SOCO in Austin.

Abstracted texture, color, and shape can provide a respite from our image-oriented culture. The lack of text and specificity allows the viewer to breathe his own meaning into a work. Texas in particular supports many fine abstract painters. In Austin, D Berman Gallery, Austin Museum of Art, and Arthouse have all hosted critically acclaimed shows of work by Austin artist Sydney Yeager. She won the best female artist award in the 2004 Austin Critics Table Awards. Yeager’s large, swirling compositions possess invigorating and energetic movement. She limits her pallet to create harmonies of color and texture within their patterns.

Whatever the technique or style, a painting’s harmonious composition and flowing color are all that are needed to lift the imagination away from the quotidian. Art’s ability to nurture the spirit and heighten the beauty of everyday objects is at the core of creating a peaceful living environment.

For a list of galleries and studios offering Paintings, go to Art by Type and select the category, or click the following link: Paintings.

By Rachel Koper, an artist, curator, writer, and the director of Gallery Lombardi in downtown Austin. She is a visual arts contributor to San Antonio’s Voices of Artists, Houston’s Glasstire, and The Austin Chronicle.

Photos courtesy of The Gallery at Spicewood (Gordon Fowler), Bunny Oliver, Artamici Fine Art Gallery (Pablo Taboada, Oscar Riquelme), Gallery SOCO (Sylvia Angeli), and D Berman Gallery (Sydney Yeager).
© 2004 Art Lover’s Guide. Inc.