30th Anniversary Show

The 30th Anniversary Show currently on view at the Greenhouse Gallery of Fine Art in San Antonio, TX is spectacular. The show runs through 24 February and it would be well worth your time, if you're in San Antonio, to go check it out.

John Pototschnik, Kathy Anderson, Ron Rencher, Kathryn Stats, Noe Perez

Several artists were in attendance for the opening night reception and on Saturday the 4th, I was honored to be part of a five-person round table panel discussion. The questions presented to us from a nice size audience were both insightful and expansive. Do we dream in color? What motivates us to paint? What's your most interesting plein air painting experience? How do you determine subject matter? How much of painting is right and left brain oriented, and is the switch a conscious thing? What do you listen to while painting? What artists or period of art has been most influential to you? If you could spend a day with any artist, who would it be? If you had one final painting to do before you died, what would it be?
That last question stumped most of us but after some consideration, I reasoned my last painting would be by far the largest painting I had ever done, so large in fact it would take 15 to 20 years to finish it.
Regarding the question of spending a day with any artist of our choice, Noe mentioned Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida, while Ron Rencher would like to spend the day with John Singer Sargent. I was a little more cautious as I thought it most important to first know whether the desired artist was a jerk or not, for It would not be pleasant to spend a whole day with such a person...so I chose Richard Schmid, from all accounts a generous, kind person. That choice proved to be very interesting and a big surprise, as unknown to me, sitting in the audience was Dr. Bettina Schmid, a military psychologist, and one of Richard's daughters.


I'd like to introduce you to the other artists on the panel:

Kathy Anderson

Spring Still Life  -  16"x 20"  -  Oil

Kathy Anderson Website

Kathy lives in Connecticut and is a 10-year member of the Putney Painters under the tutelage of Richard Schmid. Like him, she paints primarily from life. "My passion for painting is rooted in my garden. I strive to translate my excitement about the experience of growth, light, and translucent colors from the earth to my canvas. Nature has always spoken to me whether it is the rushing of a waterfall or the burst of new green in Spring. I am awed by the beauty around me and I love to share my vision through my paintings."

Noe Perez

Spring Landscape  -  24"x 36"  -  Oil

Noe Perez Website

Noe resides in Corpus Christi, TX. His favorite artists include William Merritt Chase, Joaquin Sorolla, Julian Onderdonk, and Porfirio Salinas. "I like to study the original works that inspire me whenever I have the opportunity. Most of my work is done in the studio from photographs and plein air studies. I believe that plein air painting is an essential exercise for any landscape painter. I try to paint outdoors whenever I have the chance."

Kathryn Stats

Looking Down the River  -  18"x 24"  -  Oil

Kathryn Stats Website

Probably Greenhouse Gallery's most popular artist, the work of Kathryn Stats is inspired by her home state of Utah. Passionate about painting, she has a love for color and an unerring sense of light. "I think a good painting is like a good musical composition. It has harmony and rhythm, contrast and theme, sometimes even soloists. Those elements rarely just occur in a natural landscape. I find that I emphasize with detail and color, omit some things, mute others, even rearrange elements to create a composition that conveys my visual experience, my joy, to the viewer. It is this challenge that keeps me painting."

Ron Rencher

Lily Pond  -  12"x 16"  -  Oil

Ron Rencher Website

A resident of Canyon Lake, TX, Ron is a graduate of Southern Utah State College, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1975. He is committed to working from life, either in the studio with still life setups or outside on location. "A career in painting demands that you devote yourself at least 100% to the endeavor. You can't be half-hearted or have the distractions of other occupations."

To view the entire 30th Anniversary Show, click HERE.

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