Sunday, January 13, 2008
BY JOHN CARLOS CANTU
News Special Writer
BY JOHN CARLOS CANTU
News Special Writer
Area colored pencil artists
'Getting Real'
'Getting Real'
The Washtenaw Colored Pencil Artists' "Getting
Real'' exhibit at the Ann Arbor District Library
Malletts Creek Branch richly illustrates this local
art circle's fascination what it calls "love of
nature'' and "the beauty of the world around us.''
The six artists in the display - Barbara Goodsitt,
Kathleen Kelley, Patti Mitchell, Dee Overly, Linda
Schumacher and Dianna Soisson - are united
by their penchant for colorful realism. Yet each
artist portrays the world as she sees it - and
each sees it differently from the others.
Real'' exhibit at the Ann Arbor District Library
Malletts Creek Branch richly illustrates this local
art circle's fascination what it calls "love of
nature'' and "the beauty of the world around us.''
The six artists in the display - Barbara Goodsitt,
Kathleen Kelley, Patti Mitchell, Dee Overly, Linda
Schumacher and Dianna Soisson - are united
by their penchant for colorful realism. Yet each
artist portrays the world as she sees it - and
each sees it differently from the others.
| Overly's "Rain Beads'' is a meticulous magnified view of two translucent raindrops balanced on the edge of a leaf. Schumacher's diminutive "Whiskey Mountain Cowboy'' features a cowpoke's profile with super-real fidelity. Kelly's architecturally rich "Casa da Pergola'' captures its subject with an equally profound detail. By contrast, Mitchell's playfully expansive "Fruit Medley in Purple'' and "Fruit Medley in Green'' are geometrically sliced for visual effect. And Soisson's oversized "Rachel's Lilies'' are painstaking interpretations of this beautiful flower. For sheer pleasure, Goodsitt's "Macaw'' is nearly in a class of its own. Goodsitt's depicted this magnificent tropical bird against a frond with vibrant blue flowers and a fluttering red butterfly dramatically breaking through the compositional frame. "Macaw,'' like the other 35 artworks in this exhilarating display of art, is full of life. "Getting Real: A Realism Exhibit with the Washtenaw Colored Pencil Artists'' will continue through Jan. 30 at the Ann Arbor District Library Malletts Creek Branch, 3090 E. Eisenhower Pkwy. Exhibit hours are 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, and noon-6 p.m. Sunday. For information, call 734-327-4200. |