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March Issue 2004
Charleston County Public Library in Charleston,
SC, Features Works by Robert Merrill Sweeny
Artist Robert Merrill Sweeny will share his work throughout the
month of Mar., 2004, in the Saul Alexander Gallery, located on
the first floor of the downtown Main Library, in Charleston, SC.
Sweeny's exhibit is entitled, Through My Eyes.
After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA
in Photography, Sweeny moved frequently to picturesque spots along
the East Coast like Providence and Block Island, RI, Lawrence
and Boston, MA, and Highlands, NC. Now settled in Charleston,
he continues to draw in pencil, keeping masterful records of the
many places that have caught his eye during his travels.
Sweeny has had works included in many exhibitions in the Charleston
area, as well as in Highlands, NC, Nashville, TN, Gainesville,
GA, Jackson Hole, WY, San Francisco, and the Colored Pencil Society
of America, 7th Annual Juried International Exhibition,
in Seattle, WA.
Sweeny offered the following description of the "Nonegraphic"
process, "By combining the prefix 'none' - to stand for nine
with 'graph' for photograph, I have coined a new word, "nonegraph,"
to describe a print/drawing/painting process which I have recently
invented. I say invented because I have never seen it in use although
I, of course, am not able to view all the world's artistic creations.
These works start as an original digital photograph. The photograph
is manipulated in Microsoft's Photodraw 2000 program from the
original full color image to a faded out grayscaled, black and
white image. The image is then cropped to a square at the artist's
discretion, the attempt being to create the most graphically pleasing
and visually exciting image possible".
"Next, the image is divided into nine equal sections and
then each section is printed individually on high quality, acid-free
Bainbridge matboard using archival Lineco white glue. Then the
fun really begins. The creative spirit takes over and the image
is drawn, painted and washed into with graphite and colored pencils,
watercolor washes and acrylics to complete the final work. The
piece is finished and several coatings of spray fixative to assure
a non-smudging surface, signed on the back, matted and framed."
You can see examples of Sweeny's work on the web at (www.robertmerrillsweeny.com).
For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery
listings or call the Library at 843/805-6801.
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.