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July Issue 2007
Art League of Hilton Head, SC, Features Works by Tricia Gardner
"To
paint it you must experience it," says St. Helena Island,
SC, artist, Tricia Gardner. "The light, the smells, the feel
of the landscape cannot be replicated in the studio unless you
have been there and become one with the scene." Gardner is
the featured artist for the new exhibit opening at the Art League
Gallery of Hilton Head in Pineland Station on Hilton Head Island,
SC, on July 10, 2007. Titled, Coastal Impressions - Color Unleashed,
the exhibit will contain 20 oil paintings demonstrating Gardner's
experiences with predominately lowcountry subject matter. The
exhibit will be on view through Aug. 10, 2007.
Expect to see shrimp boats and fish shacks (like the Bluffton Oyster Company and Eddings Creek Shrimp House), old country gas stations, Lowcountry cottages and some of the grand dames (old homes) of the coast. Locals will recognize scenes of the tidal marshes from the Chechesie River to Coosaw Creek. Gardner's style is uniquely her own: moody skies are backdrops for angular fish shacks and mysterious trees move with energetic colors and lines. The lines and riggings of sailboats as well as those found on shrimpers and fishing boats are tantalizing and a challenge for her brush or palette knife. The results are works that are impressionistic, with some bordering on the abstract. Photorealism is the antithesis of her style.
Location, atmosphere and light - these seem to be the big three for Gardner who prefers to do "plein air" painting whenever possible. That means she chooses to work in the "open" air or out of doors. "I get an energy and inspiration from nature, from the local marshes of Port Royal Sound to coastal fishing villages off the beaten track."
Travel experiences fuel Gardner's desire to portray the moods of different locations near and far. The current show includes a few landscapes from Elbow Key, and Key West.
"I have been drawing for as long as I can remember," explains Gardner. Her life, however, has not always been dominated by painting. She is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, with graduate work at the State University of New York and George Washington University. But her major was business, not art. Her professional career spanned thirty years with the Federal Government in Washington, DC, where she worked for several major agencies
"Impatient and restless by nature" Gardner is "always on the move". This is reflected in both her art style and the process she uses to paint. She never labors over a painting for days on end and she never paints sitting down. Gardner likes to be free to move about the location and feels that the first stroke with the brush or pallet knife is the best and most true to the scene. Laboring over a painting can ruin it by destroying it's spontaneity. She prefers to "paint with reckless abandon".
A former teacher once told her that "great art is not made by timid people". Gardner is not timid. Her paintings show a boldness that attracts immediate attention. She insists that "adventure, aggression, energy, tenacity and perseverance" serve her well as an artist. On occasion when not sure where to go next with a painting she asks the painting what it needs and waits for it to reply. According to Gardner, "If the moment is right the painting will paint itself"
Since retiring from government life, Gardner has traveled extensively to take plein air workshops. She paints with favorite artists in the deserts of the South West, the California Coast, the Caribbean Islands, Key West, Sicily, Spain and Greece. She has studied art at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA, the Loudoun Academy of Art in Leesburg, VA, and the Delaplaine Academy in Frederick, MD. Gardner has painted on location with Ross Merrill of the Smithsonian Museum of Art, Bob Gamblin of Gamblin Paints, and Walt Bartman of the Yellow Barn Studio. Locally she has studied under Ted Jordan of the Hilton Head Art Academy and has participated in workshops through the Hilton Head Art League with Ron Ranson, Tom Lynch, Charles Gruppe and Susan Sarback.
For further information check our SC Institutional
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/681-5060 or visit (www.hhal.org).
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