You don’t have to look hard to find artist Tom Palmerton’s inspi
ration. It’s right there in front of you.
“Getting up every morning inspires me,” Palmerton says. “I don’t
have to look anywhere for subject matter. It’s just always there, ev
erywhere.”
Palmerton’s subject matter is diverse for his show, which will
open today at Noyes Art Gallery, 119 S. Ninth St.
His bronze sculptures (cast in his own Brownville
foundry) and paintings reflect the famous Nebraska
artist’s wide-ranging interest — from a statue of
Christ to a mermaid combing her hair to a hawk bat
ing a bear for a prized fish.
And Palmerton’s work is only a part of the ambi
show Noyes is putting on for Friday. Among the artists
ured in the Focus Gallery will be Lois Meysenberg, who
recently completed several watercolor and mixed-me
a paintings. “Froot Loops,” a painting of a toucan from
le Lied Jungle at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo, should
ppeal to the kid in all of us.
Meysenberg didn’t have an easy time with her break
fast cereal-inspired piece. Because of the many layers
of clant life that surrounded the toucan, the painting
x days to complete instead of the three she
pected.
“When I got done with that I
thought: OK, I’m never doing foli
age again, she says.
And if Palmerton and
k Meysenberg’s work isn’t enough,
f there’s still more. Noyes is con
tinuing a tradition begun last year
I by offering for sale small seed
corn bags decorated by its artists.
One of Palmerton’s framed water*
colors of the same size would cost
$200 — but Palmerton corn bag
original will set you back just
$20. The bargain shoppers were
out in force last year, so get to the
gallery early for the best selection
of bags by many different artists.
The show at Noyes is to
morrow from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
I
Right
there in
front of
you
Steel to the sky
simple art commanding
Photo courtesy of JHaykw Gallery
"EVENTIDE, SECTION 17, Caster North Township” by Jobs Prestos will be
show* tonight at Maydoa Gallery, 335 N. Eighth St.
Life’s biggest choices are made on the basis of simple attraction, John
Preston believes: a spouse, a career, a place to live.
And in his case, places to paint. Hie Fairfield, Iowa artist is not a
native of the Midwest; he grew up in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area. But
he moved to Iowa for its spacious land and skies, four distinct seasons and
changeable weather" v ~ ^ &****&*- -
In walking around looking for scenes to paint, Preston rarely ventures far
from home — having discovered that in Iowa, the land far away is pretty
similar to that in his own county.
Preston’s show, “Midwestern Landscapes,” has its opening reception
tonight from 7-9 at Haydon Gallery, 335 N. Eighth St.
PREVIEW
Stories by John Fulwider
Artist exploring Dark Side’ of expression
Put away the fabric swatches—this
isn’t sofa art.
Lincoln artist Connie Leavitt’snew:
show at Burkholder Project, “The Dark
Side,” delights in exploring themes that
may be disturbing to some — and al
most definitely won’t match your av
erage living room furniture.
Take “Lizard Man” for example — a
painting ofasharp-featured man/beastwith
a clawed creature coining oitf of his head.
“People either really like him or
they just can’t stand it,” Leavitt says.
That’s pretty much the point.
. Leavitt has secretlyloved the reactions:
she gets to her dark acrylics, a rather
marked departure from the farrnscenes
she painted for a show l£st-yegf. ^ c
. ‘The most fun abpiit this is people
who would come in and say, 'Well, this
is really interesting,’ and then couldn’t
get put fast enough,” she says.
Leavitt started her “Dark Side”
paintings at an art class in Halsey.
“Everybody was doing this white
pastel fluff,” she says. “I felt a need to
balance it”
Balance it she did — so much so
that her fellow artists couldn’t even
look at her work.
“I was so thrilled at the reactions I
got horn those ladies,” she says. “When
you make people uncomfortable, you
accomplish something as an artist.”
The images start as random globs
of acrylic paint Leavitt sprays the slick
side of lithography paper with water,
smears on paint and then sandwiches
the paint under another sheet of paper.
When that second sheet of paper is
lifted, little rivulets of color form and
Leavitt sees shapes and images (like
Photo courtesy of Connie Leavitt
“LIZARD MAN” by Comte Lmvttt is meet thtpabrtlB|s la “TbeDaifc Side,”
no* snow opening loony m nwwioioer ■ i*ojee%j•*0 ■ St*
in ink blots). Later she goes in with
more paint, markers and other tools and
accentuates the images she sees.
“When you paint like this, you paint
like a child paints,” she says. “You
paint whatever comes in your head.”
Leavitt’s show has its opening re
ception today rom 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at
Burkholder Project, 719 P SL
Also opening today at Burkholder in
the Main GaDay is‘Xlfeaninglfouse” se
lected works from “A Furniture Show” by
the Nebraska Women’s Caucus for Art; a
mini-show of recent ofl paintings by ^ftfendy
Bantam; and in the Skylight Gallery,
“Somewhere Beyond Our World,” ab
stracted dl and acrylic landscapes by Leba
nese artist RoulaG.Ayoub.