Artist Statement
Drawing ReadingOne of my art-making priorities is to illustrate and define, with drawing, the act of reading. The ability to read is a mystery. The combination of vision, comprehension, memory, and retention is an amazing sequence and layering of phenomena. Forming an image, a (silent) sound, and a thought simultaneously while maintaining a continual flow defies easy explanation. The challenge to successfully depict this dynamic is, for me, a life-long task.
Where reading happens is one aspect I've been exploring. Outdoors, in a city environment, for instance, words are part of the space, the architecture, and the experience as a whole. What I call street-level reading is unavoidable. Here, my drawing task is clear. A city block might contain hundreds of words and provide a literary landscape, a field of words.
Little Big Things
If word fields are landscape, my selection of outdated odd bits and pieces are still- life. I'm attracted to the steadily shrinking and overlooked city newspaper, obsolete hand tools, vintage outboard (boat) motors, and other assorted and neglected items. I've found that the faded but still noble architecture of 30, 40, or more years ago, along with the appropriate period train, boat, or airplane, can provide context and detail.
On a much larger scale I adopt an armchair/amateur astronomer's version of the universe. The limitless expanse of space offers vast possibilities. Opportunities to draw the un-drawable tease my imagination.
Bio
EducationM.F.A., University of Oregon 1972
B.F.A., Rhode Island School of Design 1968
Employment
Exhibit Preparator, Seattle Art Museum 1978-2012
Art Teacher, Attleboro MA Public Schools 1969-1970
Art Teacher, Worcester MA Public Schools 1968-1969
Exhibitions
Side of the Saw, Drawings: Virginia Inn Seattle WA 2014
Must Read, Drawings: Art and Soul, Seattle WA 2013
Old Faces/New Spaces: Virginia Inn, Seattle WA 2008
The Hillclimb Show: 1507 Western Ave, Seattle WA 1987
Images of Seattle: Jackson Street Gallery, Seattle WA 1985
Michael Ehle, Gordon Lambert, Recent Paintings: Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle WA 1985
Salon des Refuses: Virginia Inn, Seattle WA 1983
3 Artists – 2 Months: The Manolides Gallery, Seattle WA 1982
Scale, A Group Show: Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland OR 1981
Northwest '77: Seattle Art Museum, Seattle WA 1977
Ironclads and Others: William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco CA 1976
Works on Paper, Northwest Art Today, Part I: Seattle Art Museum, Seattle WA 1975
Emerging Talent: Polly Friedlander Gallery, Seattle WA 1975
Gouaches: William Sawyer Gallery, San Francisco CA 1973
West by East: Gerry Mansion, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence RI 1968
Western New York Annual: Albright-Knox Gallery, Buffalo NY 1965