Meg Walsh: Landscapes & Light Sept. 22 - Oct. 14, 2012

"Clearing Skies"

The first of three gallery openings this fall, new paintings by Meg Walsh will be exhibited in our gallery in Washington, VA, Sept. 22 - Oct. 14.  The public is invited to an opening reception for the artist which will take place on Saturday, September 22, 4:30 - 7:00pm. 

Gray Ghost Vineyards will be pouring selections of their award-winning wines and delicious catering will be provided by Little Washington's new cafe & wine bar, Tula’s Off Main.

I've loved Meg Walsh's work since the first time it arrived in our gallery.  Her paintings have joy, beauty and light. I particularly like her painterly style and impressionistic technique.

"Country Road"

Meg is a Virginia artist, an award winning painter, and has exhibited widely on the east coast. Her work is in numerous collections including the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD, the National Institutes of Health, Georgetown University Hospital, and Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, VA.

Walsh’s concentration is on Plein Air painting, taking her easel into the open to capture nature at its best.  She also creates studio paintings as well, both with a deft and lively brush using light as her defining inspiration.  Her work is exuberant catching the essence of each subject with clarity and a feeling of the subject without overwrought detail.

She states about her work: “My goal is to translate the landscape, emphasizing what interests me most about a specific place at a moment in time. Values are more important to me than color in creating a believable reality within the confines of my canvas, and I often simplify to make a more forceful statement.”

R. H. Ballard Gallery has exhibited Meg Walsh’s work for some time and this has been a highly anticipated one-person exhibition. I think you will love it too.

Our gallery is located in the lower level of R.H.Ballard Art, Rug & Home at 307 Main St. in Washington, VA, open 7 days a week from 10 am - 6pm. Hope to see you there!

Here are several paintings from the current exhibit of over 20 new paintings. Please go to R.H. Ballard website to purchase and to view, or call us at 540-675-1411.

 "Georgetown"

 

 "Snow on the Towpath"

 

"Winter Light, Potomac"

Chairs: Conversations with Family & Art

"Ghost Chair II" by Robert H. Ballard

In October of last year my husband/artist Robert H. Ballard and his daughter, master quilter and author Alethea Ballard, collaborated on a unique art exhibit in our gallery.  The subject was "Chairs: A Conversation". The exhibit was well received (meaning they both sold a lot of work) and I wrote about this event in Virginia Living Magazine.  I am re-posting it here (with more artwork images) because I love them both so much and I want more people to see their work. Enjoy!

___________________________________________________

This is a post about family and art.

"Lupe Arm Chair", by Alethea Ballard, Maverick Quilts

My husband, artist Robert H. Ballard, and his daughter, master quilter and author Alethea Ballard, will present a unique art exhibit, “Chairs: A Conversation”, opening Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010, at our gallery R.H. Ballard located in Little Washington, Virginia. This father/daughter art exhibit is unique in itself but the subject is also unique: “Chairs”.

"Genosese Chair" by Robert H. Ballard

Robert’s chair paintings have architectural specificity, texture, emotion and place, and Alethea’s art quilts are wild and lively, exuberant and full of movement. The juxtaposition of these two art forms, with “chairs” as the subject matter, along with this unique father/daughter collaboration, creates a surprisingly fresh, fun and engaging exhibit.

"Milano Chair" by Robert H. Ballard

 Robert started painting images of chairs while we were on a visit to Paris four years ago. There was a French armchair in our Paris rental apartment that he just sketched one day. It was a comfy, crème-colored chair that faced some pretty French doors. We both loved sitting in it. He came home from that trip and began researching chair design and its history. He did more drawings and more paintings that we in turn sold successfully in our gallery.

A couple of years ago, Robert sent a chair painting as a present to his daughter who lives in California. Being a quilter, she was inspired by it and began creating chair imagery in her quilts. She loved doing it so much she found herself creating more quilts using the “chair” theme. Around Christmas time, Alethea sent Robert a present of an art quilt that was inspired by his chair paintings. It was a small 12 x 12 quilt that was stretched over a wooden frame with a fanciful image of a chair designed with vibrant fabrics. We were both so impressed by it that I encouraged him to have a collaborative show of both of their works the following fall. So, for the past year, he and Alethea have been communicating back and forth, from east coast to west coast, viewing each other’s art work and being further inspired.

"Julian Lopez Chair' by Alethea Ballard

C&T Publishing was also impressed with Alethea’s work and wanted to publish her quilt designs in a book form. The result was Dream Chair Quilts, 7 blocks for Whimsical Wall Hangings, a new appliqué pattern pack that will be out December 2010. She is now finishing her second book, Maverick Quilts, Using Large-Scale Prints, Novelty Fabrics & Panels with Panache, and is in process of working on a third. She also hopes one day to create her own line of fabric designs.

"Yellow Peacock Chair" by Alethea Ballard

Alethea has lived in the East Bay Area of California most of her life. She lives and breathes fabric and quilting. She is a teacher and does instructional workshops on her quilting style. Alethea’s impatience with convention has pushed her towards more spontaneity and joy with her designs, allowing for more unexpected results. Her introduction to art as a child was first looking through artist's books with her father. The many hours spent with her father on trips to galleries and museums are fond memories. She enjoyed watching her father paint as she grew up and always felt influenced by his paintings. She’s delighted to be able to share this love of painting and quilting with her father through this collaborative exhibit.

"Yin Yang" by Robert H. Ballard

Robert’s paintings of chairs began by chance, but as he began studying the structure of chairs, he discovered how they also communicated feeling, memory and place. Something as simple and ordinary as a chair is elevated to regal status because it is the solitary subject featured on the canvas -- it is the landscape, it is the portrait and it is the main event. The viewer comes to each artwork with their own past experiences and the chairs ultimately take on that view.

"Van Gogh Chair" by Alethea Ballard

A chair could be for sitting, meditating, reading a book, a job interview, or talking with friends. A chair could spark memories such as “dad’s favorite chair” or “my therapist’s chair”. Chairs have historical significance, such as the iconic Louis XVI chair. Famous chairs grace the Smithsonian Institution (Archie Bunker’s TV chair,) and in 1996 one of JFK's rocking chairs sold at auction for over $400,000. Numerous museums like the Museum of Modern Art have workshops and exhibits on the evolution of chair design, which Robert and I enjoyed this past summer. Strangely enough, chairs have immense purpose and significance in our lives and yet they are something most people take for granted.

Exhibit Information: “Chairs: A Conversation”, Oct 23 – Nov 14, 2010. R.H. Ballard Gallery, 307 Main Street, Washington, Va. Hours: 10am-6pm Daily, 540-675-1411, www.rhballard.com.

LINKS OF INTEREST
Alethea Ballard, Maverick Quilts
Robert H. Ballard, Chair Paintings
Dream Chair Quilts, C&T Publishing, Dec. 2010
Alethea's Blog
Alethea's Publications

Patton Wilson Artwork @ R.H. Ballard

 We have just received a beautiful egg tempera painting in our gallery entitled "Nesting" by one of our favorite artists, Patton Wilson.

Patton is an American Realist painter and has lived and painted in our neck of the woods for most of his life. He has exhibited widely, won numerous awards for his paintings, and is in many private and corporate art collections.

To learn more about Patton, please read his bio below and contact Robert Ballard at R.H. Ballard Gallery in Little Washington, VA, for more information on this and other works by this artist.  Robert can be reached here: robert@rhballard.com, www.rhballard.com, 540-675-1411.

PATTON WILSON

MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS

The St. George Art Museum, St. George, Utah
The Butler Institute of American Art, Midyear Juried Exhibition, 2002, 2003
Huntsville Museum of Art, Huntsville, AL 2003
The Butler Institute of American Art, Allied Members Exhibition, OH: 2001
Bergstrom-Mahler Museum, Neenah, WI 2004
Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, Danville , VA 2004
Museum of Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 2004

PUBLICATIONS

Watercolor Magazine, Summer 2006
American Artist Magazine, Sept. 2004 (Cover), Nov. 2003, 1992
New American Paintings,Vol. 33
International Artist, 2001
Watercolor Magazine 2000
San Francisco Examiner 2000
Pueblo Chieftain 2000
The Virginia Pilot 1984

CORPORATE COLLECTIONS

Dominion Power, Richmond, VA
FORBES, Inc.
Forbes Family Collection
The Wilmington Trust Company
Johnson and Higgins, Inc., New York
The Bank of Delaware
Dauphin Deposit Bank
Maryland Bank of North America. 


GRANTS & AWARDS (SELECTED)

Pollock/Krasner Foundation: Grant Recipient 2009-2010

Allied Artists of America: Len B. Everett Memorial Award - 2009, Honig Memorial Award for a Traditional Painting - 2007, American Artist Professional League for Realism, Charles J. Romans Memorial Award, Winsor Newton Award for Watercolor, Gloria Benson Stacks Award for a Southern Artist

National Society of Casein & Acrylic Painting: Glenn Bradshaw Award - 2009, Mandel &Graham Memorial Award - 2007, Winsor Newton Award - 2006, John J. Newman Award - 2004

NSCAP & American Artist: First Place - 2003
American Artists Professional League: Audubon Artists Award - 2007, Medal of Honor, Claude Parsons Memorial Award

Salmagundi Club Open Exhibition: Charlotte Kughler Award for Pure Aquarelle
Art Renewal Center International Competition: Finalist 2007
Baltimore Watercolor Society Mid-Atlantic Regional Watercolor:American Frame Corporation Award - 2002

The Parkersburg Art Center: Bronze Award
Knickerbocker Open Exhibition: The Grumbacher Gold Medal

JURIED EXHIBITIONS (SELECTED)

Fort Wayne Museum of Art - 2008 Contemporary American Realism Juried Biennial, Fort Wayne, IN Butler Institute of American Art Mid-Year Exhibition, 2002, 2003, 2007
Mid-Atlantic New Painting Juried Biennial, University of Mary Washington, VA 2007
Peninsula Fine Arts Center Biennial 2006, Newport News, VA
The National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic Juried Exhibition, National Arts Club, Glen Bradshaw Award - 2009, Winsor Newton Award - 2006 The John J. Newman Medal - 2004
The National Casein Painting Competition, Sponsored by American Artist, Jack Richeson Co., and The Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic, First Place, 2003
3rd Annual Natural World Observed Exhibition 2007, Texas Art Gallery, Dallas, Texas
Allied Artists of America, National Arts Club, New York, NY: 2002-2004, 2006 Awards: American Artist Professional League Award for Realism, Charles J. Romans Memorial Award, Winsor and Newton Award for Watercolor, Gloria Benson Stacks Award for a Southern Artist
American Artists Professional League, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY: 1998: Medal of Honor, 1987: Claude Parsons Memorial Award-Landscape
National Arts for the Parks: Top 100 & Mini 100, Eastern Division, Jackson Hole, WY, 2005
Baltimore Watercolor Society's Mid-Atlantic Regional Watercolor Exhibition, Bethesda, Maryland: 2003, 1999: American Frame Corporation Award
American Watercolor Society International Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York: 1989
Salmagundi Club Open Exhibition, New York, NY: 1987, 1986: Charlotte Kughler Award for Pure Aquarelle
Audubon Artists Annual Exhibition, National Arts Club, New York, NY: 1987, 1986
Knickerbocker 36th Annual Open Exhibition, Salmagundi Club, New York, NY: 1986: The Grumbacher Gold Medal
The Parkersburg Art Center, Realism 1994, Parkersburg, WVA: Third Place Show Award
Springfield 67th National Juried Show, George Walter Vincent Smith Art Museum and Springfield Museum of Fine Art, Springfield, MA: 1986

ONE MAN EXHIBITIONS

Somerville/Manning Gallery, 101 Stone Block Row, Greenville, DE: 2003, 1999, 1996
David Lusk Gallery, 4540 Poplar, Memphis, TN 2002
The Gallery at Centerville, Kennett Pike,Wilmington, DE: 1988, 1986, 1985

RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION

Mary Washington University, Ridderhof Martin Gallery, Fredericksburg, VA: March 2004

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Studio Paintings of the Washington Society of Landscape Painters, Maryland Center for Creative Arts, Annapolis, Md. February 2006
US Artists Exhibition, Philadelphia, PA: 2005 - 1998
Washington Society of Landscape Painters, Packing Shed Gallery, Washington, VA: 2004
Capricorn Galleries,"Contemporary Realists", Bethesda, MD:1992-1995
Carson Gallery,"Contemporary Realism", Denver, CO: 1999

INVITATIONAL EXHIBITIONS

Peninsula Center for the Creative Arts, Reality Show, VA. Fall 2005
Arcadia Gallery, Winter Invitational, NY, NY, 12/2003
Egg Tempera: An Enduring Tradition, St. Luke's Gallery, Anna Maria College, Boston, Massachusetts, 2001
Jenkins Johnson Gallery,Third Annual Realism Invitational, C A: 2001
Forbes Galleries,"Awash in Color", NY, C A: 2000
Kimberton Gallery,"Contemporary Realism", Kimberton, PA: 1987, 1989
J. Wayne Stark Gallery,Texas A&M University,TX 2005
Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI 2005

ARTIST MEMBERSHIPS

Allied Artists of America
American Artist Professional League
Baltimore Watercolor Society
National Society of Painters in Casein and Acrylic
Society of Tempera Painters
National Academy of Professional Plein Air Painters