State of the Art Presence – March 2024
THE CROCUS ARE POPPING and life is beginning to return to nature as we reflect through our featured artists this month. Both artists focus deeply on nature and its workings through amazing digital compositions and paintings. Get out and enjoy the beautiful days when they happen and stop by Art Presence while you’re out.
March Guest Artist: Howard Hunt – blending the palettes of art and ecology—Medford artist and wildlife biologist Howard Hunt is sharing his very creative and insightful digital images this month. As he puts it, his background is rooted in two sometimes conflicting disciplines: biological science and art. He spent most of his career as a wildlife biologist in several western states and as a Professor of Ecology at Louisiana Tech University. Hunt’s training in the arts occurred during his early college days and towards the end of his teaching career, when he enrolled as a student in various art classes.
His process uses photography and image-making to enhance his ability to communicate ecological concepts as a biologist and teacher. After retirement and relocation to Medford in 2011, photography has been the impetus for frequent artistic outings, travel, and foreign adventures. Blending his passions, his attraction to the natural sciences was likely the result of his artistic appreciation of nature and nature’s creatures.
We invite you to meet Howard Hunt and view his amazing work at the opening reception on Saturday, March 2nd, from 1-4pm.
Member Artist of the Month: Brenda Mills Brannan—If you’ve visited the gallery, you’re familiar with Brenda Mills Brannan’s inspirational work. She manages to artfully combine organic, abstract concepts with meticulous renderings of the real world around her using a variety of liquid media, including alcohol ink, fluid acrylic, or watercolor. She taps into her ongoing romance with the natural world, striving for a spirited interpretation of such things as birds, people, or maybe even an attempt to paint the abstract design of a leaf.
We celebrate Brannan’s continuous process of self-discovery as our Member Artist of the Month. To see more of her work, visit www.bmillsb.com.
Art Elective at Jacksonville Elementary—Artistic exploration doesn’t stop at the gallery and gift shop. In March, our presence will extend to Jacksonville Elementary, where our Member Artist, Deanna St. Martin will be teaching the second of three six-week series of classes where 2nd and 3rd graders will learn watercolor painting. The series culminates with their work on exhibition upstairs at the gallery during the month of March.
Winter gallery hours continue: Friday, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5pm—We hope to see you at the Art Presence Art Center and Gallery this month!