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March Issue 2006
Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, Features Works by Craig Nelson
Ella Walton Richardson
Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, will open its fifth annual
exhibit of the finest in Craig Nelson's newest oil paintings,
his sole exhibit on the east coast, on view from Mar. 3 - 25,
2006. Known for the brilliant sheen radiating from his landscapes
and portraits, Nelson's national artistic reputation follows him
to Charleston for the exhibit The Beauty Within.
Nelson is known throughout today's network of living artists and
their collectors as an exhibitor of immense technical prowess.
A graduate of California's Art Center College of Design, Nelson
first established his professional role as an artist through commissions
with the film and music industries. He created countless artworks
that appeared as movie posters and album covers for such projects
as Homeward Bound and Natalie Cole, Thankful.
A signature member of the California Art Club and the American Society of Portrait Artists, Nelson instinctively knew that his artwork would be most appreciated by private collectors searching for awakening, distinction, and tranquility. Today Nelson splits his attention between his teaching responsibilities as the Director of Fine Art, Drawing, and Painting at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco and creating his finest portrayals of an extensive array of subjects.
Long an admirer of travel,
one of Nelson's primary focuses in The Beauty Within is
his own atmospheric depiction of landscapes ranging from California
to Europe. In Tuscan Street he gives the viewer a magnified
sense of coming upon a mysteriously shadowed sidestreet. The shadows
echo the sharp curvatures of road meeting buildings, and call
into greater attention Nelson's own mastery of perspective. Through
the accents of fluttering sage green shutters and two streetlamps
seemingly suspended in air, Nelson brings the Renaissance-era
ambiance of this deserted corridor to the present moment.
A second featured work in the exhibit is the illuminated painting
Reading. Nelson's strong affinity for portraiture and capturing
the essence of transparent light are beautifully displayed in
this piece. Inherent to the construction of Reading is
a strong triangular movement beginning with the downward gaze
of the woman reading, the transfer of concentration to the magazine
open between her hands, and finally the magnificently rendered
wine glass resting on the table. Throughout this piece, Nelson's
mastery of capturing differences in surface textures of the scene
before him on the single texture of his own canvas is supremely
evident. From the crinkles of swept-back curtain fabric to the
gleaming reflection displayed on the wood tabletop, Nelson fluently
brings the tactile details of one woman's afternoon solitude to
the forefront of our vision.
Nelson will also be conducting a three-day workshop, Painting the Charleston Landscape, from Mar. 4 - 6, 2006. Please inquire with the gallery for further information.
For further information
check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at
843/722-3660 or at (www.ellarichardson.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
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Copyright© 2006 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
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