I came home from my roadtrip last week and decided to take a few days off from the blog. It was a pretty good trip, even with some iffy weather for travelling, that crossed some of the flat, open farmlands of the midwest. Heartland. On this trip, I was especially encouraged by my visit to Watts Fine Art. The gallery is located in Zionsville, a bedroom community just a bit north of Indianapolis. The village is a lovely place having a compact and very inviting commecial district with brick-paved streets lined with shops, galleries and restaurants. Just a charming and very comfortable place.
I was especially pleased with the gallery. It is a great space and the owners, John and Shannon Watts, have assembled a very eclectic mix of talented and very distinct artists from around the country. As an artist, I am always concerned with how my work fits in with a gallery’s lineup of other artists, desiring a high level of quality as well as a variety of styles. Even though I might feel confident about the strength of my own work, I realize that the overall strength of a gallery’s talent affects how those who come into the gallery view my work. I always like to be hung near what I consider the best work in a gallery, believing that a gallery is remembered either by its best work or its weakest. I prefer to be surrounded by the better work.
I was really pleased with the group of artists at Watts Fine Art. They came from many differing genres and all had very distinct styles and voices. I immediately felt that my work would fit well within this group. Although I liked almost of the work there, there were several that really stood out for me. For example, they had a couple of beautiful pieces from Fatima Ronquillo , a self-taught artist now residing in Santa Fe, that have the feel of the fine folk art portraits of the 19th century mixed with a sense of whimsy. Beautiful surfaces. Shown to the right is her Lady With a Marvelous Pig, a painting that my eyes kept coming back to during my visit.
I also really liked the moods created by the paintings of Wendy Chidester, a Utah artist whose beautifully rendered still life pieces often evoke a sense of nostalgia. Old typewriters, adding machines and vintage luggage populate her pieces and allow you to find something more beneath the surface appearance of these objects. They also have beautiful surfaces. Shown to the left is her Dalton on Brown.
There were several more artists who I could easily point out here but I think these examples will suffice for now. Just really good stuff. I am pleased and honored to be hanging alongside this group of artists, glad to be well represented in the heartland.
Redtree Times 