What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1389395
8 WHAT'S UP! JULY 4-10, 2021 COVER STORY Nature's Palette Behind bright colors, deeper meanings emerge SEAN CLANCY Arkansas Democrat-Gazette J ust look at these colors. From the saturated blues and greens on Susan Chambers' canvases to the shiny figures and patterns on Aaron Calvert's ceramic creatures, "Gone to Seed," an exhibit featuring the two artists at Little Rock's Historic Arkansas Museum bursts with bright hues. Both artists find inspiration in the natural world, and their works are joyous and thoughtful. Chambers uses matte acrylic paint to depict the garden behind the home she shares with her husband, photographer George Chambers, in Little Rock's Quapaw Quarter. "This series, 'Home Garden,' began in 2016 when I decided to focus exclusively on my garden as the visual source for my painting," she says in her artist's statement. "At the same time, I also became interested in native plants and their importance to the environment." With careful placement and design, she brings a satisfying order to the sometimes unruly tendencies of flowers, weeds, trees and plants. Stand back from her works and absorb the geometric patterns she uses to build her mandala-like designs, then get close to see the meticulous way she paints stems, leaves, bulbs and petals. There is not a single stroke, mark or hard-edged line out of place. Chambers' work is flat — there aren't a lot of cast shadows — but there is still a depth that comes from her skill with acrylic paint and the way she layers her subjects and arranges them on the canvas. She gives the viewer a lot of information, but it is always just the right amount and never overwhelming. "Crazy Quilt Garden" is an excellent example. A skinny, blue-and-black live oak tree sprouts on the right, while a stone path of orange and blue cuts across the image diagonally; green tomatoes, sunflowers, white lilies and a blue bush grow from the soil and a trellis in the background is covered in vines. It is a crazy quilt of a garden, but structured and neat. Chambers is standing in that very garden on a recent Wednesday morning. Here is the zig-zaggy live oak, zinnias and other flora, along with her neighbor's house, that appear in her paintings featured in "Gone to Seed." "Monet had Giverney," she says of "Homegrown National Park," acrylic on canvas, illustrates how Chambers makes order out of natural chaos. (Courtesy Image) FAQ 'Gone to Seed' WHEN — 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues- day-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday, through Aug. 22 WHERE — Trinity Gallery, Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock COST — Free INFO — 501-324-9351 or arkansas heritage.com/historic-arkan sas-museum