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July Issue 2009
Pickens County
Museum of Art & History in Pickens, SC, Features Works by
Three Watercolorists
The Pickens County Museum of Art & History in Pickens, SC, is presenting the exhibits, Dale Cochran: Extraordinary Experiences; Lynn Greer: Night Views; and Russell Jewell: Legacy and Light, on view through Aug. 27, 2009.
Watercolor is a tradition that spans the chronicles of history. Primitive man's use of pigments mixed with water to create cave paintings evolved to the ancient Egyptians work on papyrus and traditional Asian masters painting on silk and handmade paper. In the Middle Ages illuminated manuscripts were brightly colored with the medium. The increased availability of paper by the fourteenth century allowed for the increase of artistic possibilities so artists such as Albrecht Durer, Peter Paul Rubens, Jean Honore Fragonard and many more used watercolor as a means of drawing and developing compositions.
With the production of higher quality papers in the late eighteenth century, the first national school of watercolorists emerged in Britain. These renderings encompassed visual identity of ports of sea, as well as the surrounding landscape and in 1768, influential topographers founded the Royal Academy which encouraged watercolorists to carry the medium beyond their own technical achievements, encouraging the likes of Joseph M. W. Turner to grow into one of the most influential painters of the nineteenth century.
The earliest American watercolors were often created for documentation of the "new world", thus American artists worked in the shadow of European masters until the late nineteenth century. Gradually, painters such as Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer and James A. M. Whistler began to develop artworks that challenged the Europeans and the rise of American painting ensued. Watercolor became an inevitable medium for the American painter who, from the beginning, made landscape painting one of the dominant features of the American art tradition. Watercolor's inherent luminosity, combined with its capacity for rapid execution, gave landscape painters an ideal means for recording the fleeting effects of nature.
Dale Cochran
South Carolina native Dale Cochran is an artist with a gift for revealing the uniqueness and beauty in things seemingly plain, illuminating the stories and spirits behind the ordinary - an old barn, a basket of pecans, a child caught in a moment of imagination, a crayon on pavement.
Cochran was a child when he began his journey as an artist, lying on the floor beside his dad's drawing board. As a high school student, he experienced his first formal training and then continued his studies at Anderson University, receiving an associate degree in art, and then Winthrop University, earning a bachelor's degree in visual arts.
About this exhibition Cochran says, "The title of this exhibition - Extraordinary Experiences - supports my belief that when we take the time to look and listen to the world around us, the commonplace and ordinary become extraordinary. Through the years, I've made many attempts to write an artist statement that describes my work. But I've come to realize that my work isn't complicated; it's simply a visual interpretation of my experiences, relationships and observations. Sometimes there are stories behind the inspiration for the piece; at other times, it's just the visual intrigue of the subject."
Cochran has been professionally
involved in the arts for more than 30 years as an award-winning
artist, illustrator, instructor and graphic designer. His work
has been featured in numerous exhibitions and publications.
Lynn Greer
A Greenvillian (SC) since the age of eight, and Fine Arts Center student, Greer is a 1979 University of Georgia graduate with a BFA in Graphic Design. After eight years as an Art Director, she left to join the ranks of, as she calls it, "poor starving artists." For the last twenty-one years she has made a living as a working artist; painting commissioned works, organizing one-woman exhibits, taking part in outdoor arts festivals and entering juried competitions.
About making watercolors Greer says, "I love the watercolor medium. The fluidity and the unlimited ability to surprise both add to the enjoyment of painting. I am exhilarated by the process as well as the product, whether I am painting a floral, a portrait or a cityscape. I feel fortunate when I am able to communicate my joy to others." She continues, "My current body of work focuses on the glow of lights in urban, suburban and rural settings. I am interested in exploring the many possibilities inherent in this subject matter. How many ways can I portray the stages of evening, using both color and contrast? I am also fascinated by the variety of hues in the night sky, depending on season, weather and reflected light from the landscape below. The lights are the stars. The architecture and surrounding landscape play supporting roles."
Greer is a member with excellence of the South Carolina Watermedia Society, a signature member of the Georgia Watercolor Society, and a board member of the Metropolitan Arts Council in Greenville. She has recently been included in American Artist Watercolor Magazine, as one of twenty emerging artists across the US. She lives in downtown Greenville with her husband Henk VanDyk.
Russell Jewell
Russell Jewell is an artist/educator from Easley, SC. For more than twenty-five years he has carved a career out of the combining forces of art and education. Her qualifications for such a career include a Bachelors degree in Art Education, a Masters of Art degree from the University of South Carolina and a Doctorate of Education from the University of Georgia. He is a certified Advanced Placement teacher and has received certification by the National Board for Professional Teachers Program.
On the artistic front Jewell has been juried into many national exhibitions including: Watercolor USA, Northeast Watercolor, Northwest Watercolor, Watercolor West, Adirondacks Exhibition of American Watercolor, Easton Maryland's Premiere Plein Air Competition, Telluride Plein Air, as well as the National Watercolor Society exhibition. He has been the recipient of a plethora of awards and honors and his work is widely published
When asked to speak about his upcoming exhibition, Jewell said, "The works of Legacy and Light reflect my artistic development as it was coupled with the actual physical and social environment of a growing family. As my family grew and matured so too grew my artistic knowledge and personal awareness. My life has always coupled art with education. My passion seems to encompass both of these ideals in the form of a 'give and take'. As an artist, the more education I take, the more I have to give back. This give and take fuels a personal passion to share, not only my art, but my art knowledge as well. I often compare the artist with the magician. Both the artist and the magician must first, intellectually, learn the tricks of their trade but it is the viewer who perceives the magic in their work. I encourage everyone to find their passion and share the magic."
Jewell is a signature member of the SC Watermedia Society and the National Watercolor Society. In 2008 he received a US patent for his Jewell Box plein air viewfinder.
These exhibitions are part of the museum's 2008 2009 exhibition season sponsored by Blue Ridge Electric Cooperative, Pickens Savings & Loan and Upstate Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery & Dental Implant Center along with Cornerstone Bank, First Citizens Bank, ING Financial Partners - Sam Head, Liberty Family Pharmacy, Richard & Laura Powers, Pumpkintown Community Club, Mr. & Mrs. Alfred Robinson & Family and the Rozelle Stone Company.
The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
For further information
check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at
864/898-5963 or visit (www.co.pickens.sc.us/culturalcommission).
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