Archway Gallery
2305 Dunlavy, Houston, Texas 77006 (713) 522-2409
Archway Gallery presents Wild Abandon
Featuring Turned Wood Containers by Thomas Irven and Oil Paintings by Margaret Miller
Exhibition
Opening Reception
DATE:
TIME:
LOCATION: Archway Gallery, 2305 Dunlavy, Houston, Texas 77006
Complimentary Valet Parking
& Light Refreshments
Houston, Texas (September 15, 2017) … Thomas Irven and Margaret Miller 's exhibition,
Wild Abandon, will be on view December 2, 2017 – January 4, 2018. The artists will be available to visit with guests during the opening reception on Saturday, December 2, 2017, from 5 – 8 p.m. with an Artists' Talk at 6:30 p.m.
Wild Abandon, will be on view December 2, 2017 – January 4, 2018. The artists will be available to visit with guests during the opening reception on Saturday, December 2, 2017, from 5 – 8 p.m. with an Artists' Talk at 6:30 p.m.
Thomas Irven's elegant and whimsical turned-wood forms display a cunning variety of detail. Surface texture is added or polished away into a glowing satin finish. Eccentrically turned finials and legs add personality to hollow containers. In this show Thomas explores yet another new technique: thin strips of wood are laminated, then bent to enhance the specific curve of the piece it is applied to. Margaret Miller joins Thomas in this exhibit. Formerly an Archway Gallery member, Margaret returns as a guest artist. Her oil paintings investigate a range of emotion expressed through the use of color, tone, light, and brushstroke. She works from sketches and photographs made in natural settings. In her studio, each painting takes on its own identity as Margaret allows bursts of vivid color to emerge through previous layers of paint, eliciting a sense of atmospheric surprise. With more blended tones, tranquility prevails.
Beyond the basic woodturning techniques, Thomas uses several additional techniques to add individuality to each piece. Trademark finials or spirals sprout from the tops of lids or from bottoms of some larger pieces. His works may sit askew or stand lopsided. He often adds feet to the vessels, animating them with a sense of movement. The graceful feet also serve to direct attention to the juxtaposition of the delicate legs and the larger hollow vessel they support.
With the eccentric turning technique, Thomas often turns a piece multiple times; each time on a different axis. As a finishing touch, he may add color and texturing to enhance natural grain, emphasize a contrast, or evoke an emotion.
He enhances some forms with the slanted symmetry technique which he devised. He forms a single angled shape by inserting a slanted, segmented ring of wood between two horizontal, hollow sections. The added ring throws the joined form out of balance visually, additionally the ring may be of varying woods, finishes and/or color.
Thomas reaches out from his studio and into the community with teaching and demonstrations of his woodturning. He has previously taught woodworking and woodturning classes in the Houston area at The WoodWright's Shop, Woodcraft, and The Cutting Edge. He has taught at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston's History Camp since 2007. In 2013, 2016 and 2017, he presented woodturning demonstrations for the Texas Children's Art Festival at the MFAH's Bayou Bend location.
Margaret Miller spent most of her childhood and teen years taking private painting lessons. At the University of the Arts in Philadelphia she focused on graphic design. After graduation she moved to Houston to work in the field of visual communication. All the while, Margaret continued to paint to fulfill her own desire for self-expression.
Her paintings for the current show are expressions of the resonance of a scene rather than a faithful reproduction of the visual details. Whether in a quiet park in Amsterdam, at Brazos Bend State Park, or on the streets of Houston, Margaret responds to the emotional potential of the scene. She takes a photograph, or makes a sketch, and takes notes about what attracted her to the spot. Then she creates the painting in her studio. She paints with the intention of investigating the sources of emotions that can be tapped with the use of color. She sees abstract art as the perfect outlet for her intention, and through art her imagination is released.
Curiously, the painting style Margaret most often chooses is Impressionism. She works in oils, capturing the play of light, tone, color and atmosphere. She starts with a base color, then adds the darkest darks and the lightest lights, then the mid tones and continues working until she likes the painting and knows it is finished. Her photo becomes a painting of a scene or perhaps a study of a single tree that elicits feeling in the viewer. Her vision is the mood of the scene, not a portrait of it. In a wide horizontal painting, a downtown Houston street rally becomes a riot of light, color, and activity that draws the viewer into the action and arouses the desire to join in. This marriage of abstract intention and an impressionist style works well for Ms. Miller.
ABOUT ARCHWAY GALLERY Artist owned and operated since 1976. Archway Gallery, one of Houston's and the nation's oldest artist-owned and operated galleries, is located at 2305 Dunlavy and is open Monday – Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday from 1 – 5 p.m. Since 1976, Archway Gallery has been exhibiting the work of the area's finest artists, providing a great selection of affordable, high quality art including sculpture, pottery and painting in a variety of media and styles. One of the more than 30 member artists is always on site, providing visitors a unique experience to meet the artists who created the work, offering a personal insight into the process. Each month features a special exhibition highlighting member artist(s). The public is invited to the monthly opening receptions that celebrate the new installations and work, usually held the first Saturday of each month from 5 – 8 p.m. In addition to monthly exhibitions, Archway also hosts a variety of demonstrations and monthly readings for local writers and authors, as well as a "Tea and Tour" program, providing visitors with a free artist-led tour of the current exhibition, followed by tea and refreshments. With 30 artist-members, Archway Gallery is THE destination in the Houston area for affordable art directly from the artist. For more information, visit ArchwayGallery.com or call 713.522.2409. Like Archway Gallery on Facebook.
Media Contact
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