Archway Gallery Exhibitions - 2014
Inside Out: Recent Paintings by Marsha Harris
December 5 - December 31
December 5 - December 31
Marsha Harris, "Mysterious", Watercolor, 16"x20", $400
The exhibit Inside Out is about people and the myriad things they do which makes them who they are. Harris’ light and airy watercolor paintings in this current collection are works that either simply report what is seen or are a wry commentary by the artist; it is left to the viewer to decide which is which. This is a subject Harris has visited before and to which she will return again. According to Harris, “I keep learning and re-learning that much of being an artist is developing a different way of seeing, regardless of the subject matter. Not only does that train the eye, but along the way some insight is acquired.” Marsha Harris is a nationally recognized water media artist with the rare honor of holding Signature Status in eight Watercolor Societies across the U.S.
Marsha Harris, "Creative", Watercolor, 21"x27", SOLD
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Marsha Harris, "Divas", Watercolor, 27"x21", $750
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Marsha Harris, "Webwoman", Watercolor, 20"x16", $350
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Marsha Harris, "Ever Hopeful", Watercolor, 21"x27", SOLD
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At the opening reception, Marsha discussed her journey providing inspiration for this show, and answers some audience questions:
A Visual Feast
Shirl Riccetti
November 1 - December 4
Shirl Riccetti
November 1 - December 4
Shirl Riccetti, "And The Winner Is", 28" x 48", Acrylic on Canvas
Shirl Riccetti's energetic watercolors and acrylics reflect her travels and surroundings. These paintings are visual stories told through the artist’s use of expressive lines and color....with humor added. Her mixed media combines pen work and pastels, accented by bold lines or tweaked gently by pen outlines. She journeys with her subjects to the good times, capturing families, friends and even strangers enjoying moments of their daily lives. Riccetti invites her audience to join her in life's Visual Feasts.
Shirl Riccetti, "Spa Ladies", Acrylic, 48"x24"
Shirl Riccetti, "Chef", Watercolor, 12"x22"
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Shirl Riccetti, "Perfect Martini", Watercolor, 12"x18"
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At the opening reception, Shirl elaborated on what a 'Visual Feast' means to her and others' possible interpretations, as well as describing the sub-themes on the walls of her exhibit:
WHEN WOOD MET DESIGN
LeAnn Gorman and Paula Haymond
October 4th - 30th, 2014
LeAnn Gorman and Paula Haymond
October 4th - 30th, 2014
Join us for the opening reception of "When Wood Met Design" Saturday, October 4th, 5-8 pm. The gallery will celebrate the collaborative and solo work of painter, LeeAnn Gorman and wood sculptor Paula Haymond in their blend of diverse, new works sure to enrich any home or business. The showing of these new pieces will continue from October 4th through October 30th, 2014. Both artist's will be on hand to discuss their work and inspiration at 6:30 PM on October 4th. As always dress is casual attire.
New wood sculptures on view from Paula Haymond:
New pieces on view from LeeAnn Gorman
LUMINOSITY AND SHADOWS
Barbara Able
September 6 - October 7
Barbara Able
September 6 - October 7
In this exhibition, Barbara explores the idea that intellectual inspiration is a source of enlightenment, and that enlightenment is captured and conveyed by her paintings' luminous quality. The "shadows" referenced in the title refer to the spiritual connection or kinship that has long existed between humans and animals, and the guardian spirits that sometimes take the form of these animals.
Able's large abstract paintings, delicate watercolors inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo, and vibrant collages of pop icons, reflect Able's ongoing study of art, art history, and literature, as well as her interest in contemporary culture.
A life-long friend to the animal kingdom, Barbara has fostered, rescued and cared for many, many creatures, supporting a number of animal welfare organizations including Saving Animals Across Borders. In recent years, with her house full and husband at wit's end, her love for animals found a way to flourish through her paintings. Part of Barbara's exhibition is devoted to animals that she and friends have adopted or cared for over the years.
Barbara Able was born in Ithaca, New York. She attended high school in Houston, Texas, where she received a scholarship to the Glassell School at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Able received a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas, Austin. She worked as a graphic artist for Dow Chemical for 26 years, retiring in 2008. Able had a studio in the warehouse district in the 1990's, participating in the annual Art Crawls. In 1999 she also founded Barbara Able Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, representing artists from Texas and New Mexico until she closed the gallery in 2001. In 2010, Able traveled to Venice, Italy, to paint en plein air with Leslie Rich. Able became a member of Archway Gallery in 2013.
Able's large abstract paintings, delicate watercolors inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo, and vibrant collages of pop icons, reflect Able's ongoing study of art, art history, and literature, as well as her interest in contemporary culture.
A life-long friend to the animal kingdom, Barbara has fostered, rescued and cared for many, many creatures, supporting a number of animal welfare organizations including Saving Animals Across Borders. In recent years, with her house full and husband at wit's end, her love for animals found a way to flourish through her paintings. Part of Barbara's exhibition is devoted to animals that she and friends have adopted or cared for over the years.
Barbara Able was born in Ithaca, New York. She attended high school in Houston, Texas, where she received a scholarship to the Glassell School at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Able received a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Texas, Austin. She worked as a graphic artist for Dow Chemical for 26 years, retiring in 2008. Able had a studio in the warehouse district in the 1990's, participating in the annual Art Crawls. In 1999 she also founded Barbara Able Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, representing artists from Texas and New Mexico until she closed the gallery in 2001. In 2010, Able traveled to Venice, Italy, to paint en plein air with Leslie Rich. Able became a member of Archway Gallery in 2013.
THE CUTTING BRIDLE
Allison Rathan
August 2 - September 4
Allison Rathan
August 2 - September 4
The tools for taming animals are well known and the terms are concrete: cages, chains, yokes, and the cutting bridle. The bonds of humanity are not so simple. Language, laws, politics, religion, education, architecture...culture offers meaning and safety, but at a price.
There are few among us who, on occasion, don't long to return to the forest, to dance where the darkness is deepest and to be where no one else is. In this exhibition, Allison Rathan explores the struggle of domestication, and praises a spirit so powerful that it can never truly be expressed or contained.
Allison Rathan was born in Nuremberg, Germany to Czechoslovakian and Serbo-Croatian translators. She paints motive portraits and figures using watercolor, acrylic and resin. Her artwork is a visual storybook, created to invoke visceral emotion in the viewer as they create their own narrative. She is inspired by Hemingway's philosophy for writing; to make the reader and viewer feel as if it all happened to them, and that afterwards, it all belongs to them. She studied Japanese at the University of Minnesota and fine art and economics at the University of Houston. She currently paints out of her studio in the Ozark Mountains.
If you missed the opening, you don't have to miss the show. Allison's fantastic show will run to the end of the month. Read what Houston Press, Art Critic, Jim Tommaney had to say about the elegant Allison and her impressive art. Click here to read the review.
There are few among us who, on occasion, don't long to return to the forest, to dance where the darkness is deepest and to be where no one else is. In this exhibition, Allison Rathan explores the struggle of domestication, and praises a spirit so powerful that it can never truly be expressed or contained.
Allison Rathan was born in Nuremberg, Germany to Czechoslovakian and Serbo-Croatian translators. She paints motive portraits and figures using watercolor, acrylic and resin. Her artwork is a visual storybook, created to invoke visceral emotion in the viewer as they create their own narrative. She is inspired by Hemingway's philosophy for writing; to make the reader and viewer feel as if it all happened to them, and that afterwards, it all belongs to them. She studied Japanese at the University of Minnesota and fine art and economics at the University of Houston. She currently paints out of her studio in the Ozark Mountains.
If you missed the opening, you don't have to miss the show. Allison's fantastic show will run to the end of the month. Read what Houston Press, Art Critic, Jim Tommaney had to say about the elegant Allison and her impressive art. Click here to read the review.
INK&IMAGE
Mary Lee Gray and Guests Bede Van Dyke, Andis Applewhite, Cathie Kayser, Anna Maramatis, Elvia Perrin and David Webb
June 7 - July 10
Ink&Image highlights the breadth of contemporary printmaking with works by seven area printmakers. Archway Gallery is one of the venues for PrintHouston 2014; this is the fourth annual city-wide celebration of the ancient art of printmaking. Events are scheduled at Houston galleries and museums.
Mary Lee Gray and Guests Bede Van Dyke, Andis Applewhite, Cathie Kayser, Anna Maramatis, Elvia Perrin and David Webb
June 7 - July 10
Ink&Image highlights the breadth of contemporary printmaking with works by seven area printmakers. Archway Gallery is one of the venues for PrintHouston 2014; this is the fourth annual city-wide celebration of the ancient art of printmaking. Events are scheduled at Houston galleries and museums.
Evening Glow by Mary Lee Gray
Mary Lee Gray's process of art-making involves using images, color and form to communicate her response to what has touched her life. Making a work of art is like putting together a puzzle from disparate pieces. The surprising end is a new image that can stand alone, speak for itself, and if it is successful, provoke a response from the viewer; art is a discrete form of communication. She graduated from Mississippi State College for Women with a BA in art and English then went on to receive a MFA from the University of North Carolina, where she first discovered the strong black woodcut images of the German Expressionists and inspiring her to become a printmaker. Gray completed her doctorate at the University of Houston, earning an EdD with a concentration in curriculum and instruction. She taught classes from kindergarten through college level and was art supervisor of a school district. In addition to Archway Gallery, Gray's prints have been exhibited at Lawndale, Christ Church Cathedral, the Art League of Houston (several exhibits including Dimension Houston), the Pottery Guild, the Museum of Printing History, the regional Southeast Print exhibit and in a national traveling exhibit. She has taken classes at the Glassell School in drawing, etching, lithography and monoprints. Through the years, she has been active in the art community serving on the boards of the Art League of Houston, Houston Art Education Association, and City ArtWorks.
Freedom 9
by Andis Applewhite
Andis Applewhite, born in Pampa, Texas, lives and works in Houston. She is known for her silkscreen prints that tend toward the abstract expressionist or minimalist styles. Her subject matter is an exploration of the dualities in life and her use of spontaneous strokes and color convey a symbolic interpretation of the resulting tension that is felt. To counterbalance this tension she is drawn to creating minimal meditative prints, woodcuts and, most recently, video. After graduating from San Jacinto College, with a degree in graphic arts, Applewhite soon found her voice in printmaking. Her work has been featured in solo shows at the Washington Printmakers Gallery and The National Institutes of Health in Washington, DC. She was a part of PrintHouston 2013 exhibiting at McMurtrey Gallery. She has participated in numerous group shows in Houston, California, North Carolina, Virginia, Ireland and Shanghai. She is an elected Member of the Los Angeles Printmaking Society and California Society of Printmakers and will be included in their Centennial Book in honor of their 100th anniversary. Applewhite is a founding member of PrintMatters. She is also a founding and key board member of PrintHouston. Applewhite’s Freedom Series is inspired by the practice of artists confronting the viewer with known cultural icons and objects and presenting them in a form which incites new conversation and brings new awareness on a personal and social level. In the spirit of Jasper John’s flag paintings, she is building on his work by combining multiple color combinations and writings into this new work. Her series of flags is meant to engage the public on an aesthetic level and also bring to mind on a deeper level a question of “what is freedom?”
Missing
by Cathie Kayser
Cathie
Kayser is a Houston artist whose work is in collections in
Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Cincinnati, and Tel Aviv. She has participated
in numerous group exhibits in Texas, most notably in Houston. She is a founder
of PrintMatters, an arts organization she began with four other artists in
2009. In 2010, they created PrintHouston and Rockin’ Rollin’ Prints. Kayser has
taught workshops in Houston and Austin. She is the studio manager and printing
assistant to master printer Patrick Masterson at Burning Bones Press. Kayser
works in series, taking an element from one series and developing it into a new
one. For several years she has worked with a cast of characters that include
several birds who appeared to her during times of loss. Nets and maps were
important elements of these pieces, worthy of further explorations. She is now
working on a new body of work that includes lithographs, intaglios,
collagraphs, and cut-out pieces. The net is the sole subject. To Kayser it
represents the ultimate duality: an object full of holes that can hold and
protect or trap and ensnare.
Childhood Landscape2
by Anna Mavromatis
Anna
Mavromatis’ works are similar to
entries in a personal journal where, instead of words, emotions and thoughts
are expressed through colors, shapes, gestural markings, and folds. By
superimposing ancient and modern printmaking methods she is able to sculpt and
collage transforming the handled paper into a cosmos where all her needs,
feelings, and things she wants to revisit, re-examine, or even forget find a
place to be expressed. Mavromatis attended Glassell MFA, Printmaking, and the
London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. Her works have been
shown in numerous group exhibits in Europe, Australia and the US. Her solo
exhibitions include: “Cyan Silhouettes” at Center for Contemporary Craft and
“Paper Tales” at Hooks Epstein Galleries. The narrative in Mavromatis’ work is
about attempts to re-establish connection with people, situations, beliefs and
roots long lost or suddenly interrupted. It is a quest to revisit unresolved
encounters, reach previously missed understandings, or simply express emotions
without the use of words.
Layered Koi 1
by Bede Van Dyke
Bede
Van Dyke’s background as an architect
drives his need to counteract the demands of architecture with the more fluid
form of self expression through the process of art-making. Much of his artwork
addresses the landscape, both in the traditional sense and in a more abstract
sense, and is sometimes paired with psychological drama. While some of his work
is completely fluid and flowing and some of his work is more static and
delineated, all of his work falls under the title and influence of what he
calls “Fourteen Layers of Stains.” As a painter, working with fluid paint on
canvas and as a printmaker, working with ink on paper, he is intrigued with
layers. For the printing process, he tries to incorporate multiple printing
techniques to achieve this end result. Born in Chicago, Van Dyke lived with his
family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and then Houston. He received his Bachelor of
Architecture Degree from the University of Houston and in 1988 he established
Bede Van Dyke + Architects. Van Dyke has since studied printmaking at the
Glassell School of Art and participated in workshops with Ron Pokrasso in Santa
Fe, New Mexico. His work has been chosen for display at The Arts Alliance
Center in Clear Lake and has beenfeatured in one person shows at M² Gallery,
Archway Gallery, and Third Stone Art Gallery in Fennville, Michigan.
Fossil by
Elvia Perrin
Elvia
Perrin’s approach is pragmatic,
often monotonous, and relates to her need to find balance and control. She
often creates finished prints or drawings that are then cut up, reassembled,
and reorganized for additional printing on top of the original image to find a
new order. Her process develops through the dialogue between an idea and the
art-making process which includes editing, overlapping, stacking, and layering
of ink and images. She uses grids, sewing templates, office labels and other
everyday organizational materials. The grids create a controlled system to draw
her squares and shapes by hand. There is an evidence of time in her
mark-making. Perrin explores the repetitiveness of multiplicity of the image,
the organization of patterns and surfaces through overlaying ink, and the
contradictions of formalism with sectioning and shape. Through printmaking she
can exploit the redundancy of the matrix and use her plates as a visual
language, layering and reusing plates to create various monoprints. Perrin’s
prints are a convergence of order and reordering and the revealing and veiling
of organized systems and personal habits. She explores the banality of
formalism; she finds order in the layering textures and traces of patterns with
a quiet minimalist approach.
Ensign's Pyre by David Webb
David
Webb is a printmaker and
photographer. He is a biologist whose outlook as an artist is strongly
influenced by his scientific background. He retired in 1995 from a career in
genetics education which included an academic focus on population biology and
the ecology of organisms in space and time. When he turned his attention to
art, he did not lose his interest in living things; therefore, most of his art
is grounded in an appreciation of nature and man's place in relation to other
living beings. His hope is that his artwork will inspire the viewer to look
more closely at the complexities of a world in which we are often too busy to
notice. Webb does not have a single working style, and produces works across a
wide spectrum of media and styles. They are united by clarity of vision,
precision of technique, and attention to detail. Webb’s interest in art came
after a career in the sciences. He earned a BS in biology, an MS in
evolutionary genetics, and an EdD in genetics. Webb worked for 11 years as the
director of the genetics and molecular biology teaching prep lab at the
University of Houston. He began to take art classes, first at the Art League,
then at the Glassell School. His first prints were traditional etchings,
primarily of objects that had interested him as a scientist. Webb’s intaglio
prints have become more abstract collagraphs constructed from modeling paste
laid onto Plexiglas and worked while wet. These are inked with several colors à
la poupée with color rolls to bring out a wider palette.
ESCAPE
Maryam Lavaf
May 3- June 5, 2014
Maryam Lavaf
May 3- June 5, 2014
Maryam Lavaf زير گنبد کبود
Maryam Lavaf believes her abstract paintings originate from life’s experiences. The content of her paintings are based on elements like the earth, sun, plants and her emotional responses to nature. Lavaf knows a work is complete when it finds its own life, at which point she prefers to hide her intentions and allow viewers to come up with their own conclusions.
According to Lavaf, events and occurrences, which have their own logic, are accidents which she reveals in her work. Through them she discovers a new layer of herself. In nature, Lavaf finds her inspiration and her senses stimulated to which she likens the sensation of being in love.
Lavaf begins each piece picturing a sound, perhaps something as simple as the sound of a leaf dropping. Each work reveals its own logic and guide lines; therefore it is unique and ruled by its own laws.
Lavaf has also collaborated with a Persian calligrapher, mixing contemporary painting and traditional calligraphy. She has shown her art in Houston (VOICES) in support of the green movement in Iran. Through her art, she wants to show support for students who were killed due to speaking out for freedom of speech.
Lavaf was born in Tehran, Iran. She received a Graphic Diploma from Molavi Art School and a Bachelor of Arts in Painting from Azad University. In Houston she studied Advanced Painting at the Glassell School of Art. Lavaf is represented by Archway and Regina Gallery in Houston. She has also had shows in Tehran, Iran.
According to Lavaf, events and occurrences, which have their own logic, are accidents which she reveals in her work. Through them she discovers a new layer of herself. In nature, Lavaf finds her inspiration and her senses stimulated to which she likens the sensation of being in love.
Lavaf begins each piece picturing a sound, perhaps something as simple as the sound of a leaf dropping. Each work reveals its own logic and guide lines; therefore it is unique and ruled by its own laws.
Lavaf has also collaborated with a Persian calligrapher, mixing contemporary painting and traditional calligraphy. She has shown her art in Houston (VOICES) in support of the green movement in Iran. Through her art, she wants to show support for students who were killed due to speaking out for freedom of speech.
Lavaf was born in Tehran, Iran. She received a Graphic Diploma from Molavi Art School and a Bachelor of Arts in Painting from Azad University. In Houston she studied Advanced Painting at the Glassell School of Art. Lavaf is represented by Archway and Regina Gallery in Houston. She has also had shows in Tehran, Iran.
VOYAGES (of the mind and otherwise)
Fikry Botros
April 5 - May 2, 2014
Fikry Botros
April 5 - May 2, 2014
Botros has always been fascinated by the incredible variety of opportunities everyday life offers him as a photographer. Over the years, he has travelled throughout the world, taking photographs everywhere he goes. For this exhibit, Botros has drawn from his vast collection and rearranged the world.
Botros found that the experience of matching people, places and objects from all over the world opened a whole new creative space for him as a photographer. “I feel it brings me closer to the work of a painter who is only bound by his imagination,” Botros explains. “When you think of it, some of the best voyages we ever take are in our minds”.
Botros is an engineer by education and profession. Since graduating from Columbia University in New York, he has worked in the oil and gas industry in Houston which has provided him the opportunity to travel the world. Botros has been a member of Archway Gallery since 2009 and has had a number of exhibits throughout the Houston area. A collection of his photographs is available at his website (www.fbotros.com).
Botros found that the experience of matching people, places and objects from all over the world opened a whole new creative space for him as a photographer. “I feel it brings me closer to the work of a painter who is only bound by his imagination,” Botros explains. “When you think of it, some of the best voyages we ever take are in our minds”.
Botros is an engineer by education and profession. Since graduating from Columbia University in New York, he has worked in the oil and gas industry in Houston which has provided him the opportunity to travel the world. Botros has been a member of Archway Gallery since 2009 and has had a number of exhibits throughout the Houston area. A collection of his photographs is available at his website (www.fbotros.com).
EARTH WORKS
V Chin and David Connolly
March 1 - April 3, 2014
V Chin and David Connolly
March 1 - April 3, 2014
#2 Porcelain Untitled By V. Chin
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Cappadocia IV By David Connolly
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Vorakit Chinookoswong, known widely as V. Chin, has been crafting fine porcelain and
stoneware works for more than 30 years. He was born in Bangkok and up in moved to Japan at an early age. Chin graduated from the Kyoto Institute of Technology and trained as an apprentice with prominent Japanese potters. Chin moved to the U.S. in 1980 and established his studio in Seabrook, Texas. His distinctive style emerged and many of his works began to feature a signature small frog. Other works are reminiscent of ancient, museum quality, fine porcelain with delicate designs. Striving for a balance between aesthetics and function, Chin's subtle glazing adds an extraordinary level of elegance to his pottery. His work truly represents a complete harmonization of skill, creativity and heart.
Connolly has been creating watercolors for more than 30 years. He studied at Glassell School of Art in Houston, Texas and with nationally acclaimed artists Lucas Johnson, Polly Hammett and Arthur Turner and has exhibited at the Glassell School, as well as Archway Gallery. The focus for his current work is “Holy Ground” which explores ancient holy sites. As a career petroleum geologist, Connolly is naturally drawn to places built into the native rock. Sources for his watercolors are drawn from rock tombs from Cappadocia, Turkey, Coptic monasteries from Egypt, and Buddhist temples from Nikko and Kamakura, Japan.
stoneware works for more than 30 years. He was born in Bangkok and up in moved to Japan at an early age. Chin graduated from the Kyoto Institute of Technology and trained as an apprentice with prominent Japanese potters. Chin moved to the U.S. in 1980 and established his studio in Seabrook, Texas. His distinctive style emerged and many of his works began to feature a signature small frog. Other works are reminiscent of ancient, museum quality, fine porcelain with delicate designs. Striving for a balance between aesthetics and function, Chin's subtle glazing adds an extraordinary level of elegance to his pottery. His work truly represents a complete harmonization of skill, creativity and heart.
Connolly has been creating watercolors for more than 30 years. He studied at Glassell School of Art in Houston, Texas and with nationally acclaimed artists Lucas Johnson, Polly Hammett and Arthur Turner and has exhibited at the Glassell School, as well as Archway Gallery. The focus for his current work is “Holy Ground” which explores ancient holy sites. As a career petroleum geologist, Connolly is naturally drawn to places built into the native rock. Sources for his watercolors are drawn from rock tombs from Cappadocia, Turkey, Coptic monasteries from Egypt, and Buddhist temples from Nikko and Kamakura, Japan.
NUDE
Liz Conces Spencer and Gene Hester
Februray 1 - Februray 27, 2014
Liz Conces Spencer and Gene Hester
Februray 1 - Februray 27, 2014
''Into the Next World”
Fused Glass 8.25” x 4”
Liz Conces Spencer and Gene Hester
The word NUDE is understood to mean uncovered, unadorned, undraped. Far beyond these meanings, and the obvious sensual and erotic connections, there is an implied transparency, a blending of self with one’s environment and time, grounded in the reality of form. The body is the core of our individual life experience, it is the receiver with which we gather and disseminate our knowledge, our presence and our progeny, it is us. As Kenneth Clark says, “it is ourselves and arouses memories of all the things we wish to do with ourselves; and first of all we wish to perpetuate ourselves.
”The new work presented by Hester and Spencer features the centuries’ old practice of depicting the human body to represent individual and collective paths and our impact on the world. Working collaboratively and in theirrespective private studio spaces, the artists have created new figurative works which explore the contextual relationships of humans with each other and in their environments. They have used the fluid transparency of art glass, the solidity of clay and the brilliance and plasticity of paint to craft a body of work which is informed by the body of humans.
Spencer grew up in the refinery town of Pasadena, Texas and is a 1975 graduate of the art program at the University of St Thomas. Intrigued by the visual tangle of urban/suburban life, she began to visually interpret whatwould become a lifetime study of figures and patterned landscapes. This reflection has crossed media lines from traditional painting to printmaking, sculpture and glass. She has shown her work extensively since 1979 in gallery,group, festival and competitive venues. Spencer has completed commissions for the Houston Arts Alliance, the Houston Public Library, the City of Houston, Silver Eagle Distributing, The University of Texas M.D. AndersonCancer Center, Talento Bilingue of Houston, the Cool Globes Project and Habitat for Humanity, as well as corporate clients and individuals. She frequently collaborates with other artists, notably Hester of Genesis Art Glass.
A teaching artist with Young Audiences of Houston, Spencer has been active in art education since 1979, serving on the board of City ArtWorks and teaching in public and private schools. She has worked for ad giants McCannErickson and J Walter Thompson since 1996 in broadcast production and talent management.
After receiving a B.A. in 1970, Hester joined the Peace Corps and served two years as an elementary teacher on the island of Borneo in Malaysia. Upon his return to the U.S., he went back to school and received a B.F.A. in ceramics in 1974.
Purchasing an antique stained glass window prompted Hester’s move to Houston in 1975 to learn how to make thenecessary repairs. He was then hired to work in the same glass studio until he and three other employees decided to open their own teaching studio in the summer of 1976; thus was born Genesis Art Glass Studio and in 1977, Hester became its sole proprietor. Hester has created commissioned stained and leaded glass panels for residential, commercial and liturgical installations and repaired numerous antique windows and a wide variety of artifacts for more than 37 years.
He has grown to love the fused glass process, producing sculptural and utilitarian items such as bowls, platters and boxes sold at outdoor art festivals and galleries such as Archway. On a larger scale, Hester has created fused panels for the Chevron Texaco headquarters, the Floyd Medical Center in Rome, Georgia and light fixtures and wall sconces for several restaurants. His resume of corporate commissions and installations is broad, international and diverse, with completed projects too numerous to mention.
In 2007, Hester started collaborating with Spencer to design and produce works of interest to both artists. The Chapel at Camp Aranzazu in Rockport, Texas reveals the legend of our Lady of Aranzazu across five floor-to-ceiling exterior panels. The steel and fused glass Flores Public Library public commission project in Houston’s Second Ward was awarded to Spencer and Hester by the Houston Art Alliance and installed in 2010. They collaborated on the national touring Cool Globes project, brought to Houston to celebrate clean energy. Today, their sculpture stands in front of the corporate headquarters of Silver Eagle Distributing. Currently the team is working on fused glass backlit donor panels for the Houston Congregation for Reform Judaism.
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Fifty Shades of Green
Judy Elias and Harold Joiner
January 3- January 30, 2014
Light in the Forest by Harold Joiner
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My Green Heaven by Judy Elias
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Elias and Joiner share the common experience of having had a long professional design career before beginning to paint for public viewing. Elias practiced interior design in both Illinois and Texas, working primarily on residential projects. Joiner had a long career as an architect and designer of commercial interiors, both domestically and overseas, before turning his attention to painting. The last ten years of his professional practice were in Saudi Arabia.
Both artists are inspired by what they see in the environments they visit. Elias draws inspiration from what she sees in her world travels, as well as from what she sees in Houston’s environs. She treats her paintings like compositions of color. “Just a glimpse of a sunlit rooftop through the branches of a tree can inspire a painting,” she said.
Joiner finds much of his subject matter during walks or hikes in the nature preserves and state parks of south and central Texas. He has painted the local flora and waterways many times and in all seasons. “Attempting to paint the Texas landscape in all of its variety means an artist will never be without subject matter,” he said.
When talking about the possibility of a collaborative show and how that show might be themed, the artists realized that they both have an appreciation for the prominence of green as a modifier. Green is often a symbol of vitality. For these former designers of the built environment, green also is the modifier that designates harmony with the natural world. Today, to be “green” is to be in sync with, and to care about, the world we live in. Fifty Shades of Green examines the pervasive presence of that color in the environments these artists inhabit.
Elias studied art and business at the University of Oklahoma, art history at Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois and design at the Academy of Merchandizing and Design in Chicago, Illinois. She has traveled the world studying painting in the classes of well-known painters like Kevin MacPherson, Kim English and Dee Beard Dean, among others. She has participated in painting workshops in France, Ireland, England, Mexico, Italy, the Czech Republic and numerous locations in the United States. She has shown her work in numerous solo and group shows in Houston, New York and Charleston, South Carolina.
Joiner graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas with an undergraduate degree in architecture. He was instrumental in the design of numerous buildings and corporate interiors in Houston and other cities in Texas and the United States, as well as in cities abroad during a ten-year residence in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During his time abroad, he traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Europe. He has studied painting, photography and other media at the Glassell School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, at Art League Houston and under private instructors. He has participated in numerous solo and group shows in the Houston area.
Both artists are inspired by what they see in the environments they visit. Elias draws inspiration from what she sees in her world travels, as well as from what she sees in Houston’s environs. She treats her paintings like compositions of color. “Just a glimpse of a sunlit rooftop through the branches of a tree can inspire a painting,” she said.
Joiner finds much of his subject matter during walks or hikes in the nature preserves and state parks of south and central Texas. He has painted the local flora and waterways many times and in all seasons. “Attempting to paint the Texas landscape in all of its variety means an artist will never be without subject matter,” he said.
When talking about the possibility of a collaborative show and how that show might be themed, the artists realized that they both have an appreciation for the prominence of green as a modifier. Green is often a symbol of vitality. For these former designers of the built environment, green also is the modifier that designates harmony with the natural world. Today, to be “green” is to be in sync with, and to care about, the world we live in. Fifty Shades of Green examines the pervasive presence of that color in the environments these artists inhabit.
Elias studied art and business at the University of Oklahoma, art history at Barat College in Lake Forest, Illinois and design at the Academy of Merchandizing and Design in Chicago, Illinois. She has traveled the world studying painting in the classes of well-known painters like Kevin MacPherson, Kim English and Dee Beard Dean, among others. She has participated in painting workshops in France, Ireland, England, Mexico, Italy, the Czech Republic and numerous locations in the United States. She has shown her work in numerous solo and group shows in Houston, New York and Charleston, South Carolina.
Joiner graduated from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas with an undergraduate degree in architecture. He was instrumental in the design of numerous buildings and corporate interiors in Houston and other cities in Texas and the United States, as well as in cities abroad during a ten-year residence in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During his time abroad, he traveled extensively throughout the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Europe. He has studied painting, photography and other media at the Glassell School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, at Art League Houston and under private instructors. He has participated in numerous solo and group shows in the Houston area.