Painted Perspectives

Opening Reception: February 23rd from 5-7pm

Show Dates: February 23rd through March 28th

Painted Perspectives features the work of Toano artist, Bob Carlson, and Mathews artist, Rebecca Grow. When paired together, their pieces offer different perspectives on what is considered a “painting”, exploring both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional space.

 

Meet the Artists

 Bob Carlson

Toano artist Bob Carlson's paintings have been included in national and regional juried and invitational exhibitions, as well as commercial galleries and museums in Virginia, Maryland, DC, and Delaware for over forty years.  He recently had work in the Art Speaks on the Bay juried exhibition here at the Bay School, as well as the Radius 250 juried show at Artspace Gallery in Richmond.  His paintings have been seen in various other shows at the Taylor Arts Center, the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, the Contemporary Arts Center in Virginia Beach, Plant Zero in Richmond, the Hampton Roads Convention Center, Gallery Flux in Ashland, and Mary Washington University, among others.  He recently had one person shows in galleries in Richmond and Urbanna, as well as the Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. His work has won awards in the Williamsburg Celebrates Plein Air juried competition for the past five years. 

Bob paints realistically, depicting a wide variety of themes.  He enjoys exploring the effects of light on and through various natural and manufactured surfaces.  He paints landscapes and scenes from his life and surroundings, many involving water.  He paints both in his studio, based on photographs he has taken, and outdoors from life (plein air). 

Bob holds an MFA in Painting from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a BA in Studio Art from the University of Maryland, College Park.  He and his wife, Kathy, relocated to Tidewater from Silver Spring, Maryland over a decade ago, and are delighted to live in these scenic and historic environs with their hospitable pace of life.

 

Rebecca Grow

Rebecca Taylor Grow (artist) comes to the visual arts world after a long and successful career as a director and an actress in the theater, films and television. Her visual arts training has been in painting classes with regional artists Kathleen Noffsinger, Stephanie Brown, Christopher Wynn, and a life-changing workshop last summer with Mary Whyte.  However, Ms. Grow’s most memorable art experiences are from the time she studied at The Goodman Theater, which was then located in The Chicago Art Institute.  How great it was to prepare for the theater with the entire collection of the Chicago Art Institute at your fingertips!

“I have always worked in a visual way as an actor, and as a director.  My directing was colorful, highly visual and physical.  Moving to Virginia from NY City gave me a chance to explore a more reflective creativity after years of the busy collaborative efforts so common in the theater.  I have come to cherish the creative solitude of painting.  During my first watercolor class, I fell deeply in love with a medium that encourages the artist to allow the watercolor paints to flow, mingle in the water and create new colors.  It is the luminous quality of watercolor that pleases me most.  People ask what is your favorite subject and I respond that my favorite subject is whatever I am painting today.   Each day I get up and say ‘How lucky I am.  I get to paint today!’ "

Last October Rebecca began to work with watercolor and boxes, which she calls Art on a Box.  A time-honored tradition for her in the theater was the exchange of miniature boxes to the cast on opening night.   Since then, Ms. Grow has collected boxes, but now with her work combining watercolor paintings on the boxes, she calls these boxes Art on a Box.

 

“Art on a Box uses reclaimed cigar boxes.  The paintings are done on Arches 300-lb watercolor paper.

This process is like doing a regular watercolor painting in that I work the piece as a picture but it is laid out as I paint as it will appear on the box.  Once the painting is complete, I prep the box to prepare to accept the paper.  Then I cut the painting and glue it to the box.  I then fine tune the painting so the images flow down the side of the box.   I finish by using an affixative followed by a varnish to seal the painting and provide a UV protection. “