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Gallery at Belcourt presents New Works by Peggy Snow

Presented by Belcourt Theatre at Belcourt Theatre

May 1-May 28, 2011

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The world's vibrancy compels me to express its changing moods with my painting, imbuing the work with my own feeling. People and old buildings are frequent subjects for my work, while I give as much attention to the paint in an abstract sense, as I do to the subject matter, favoring pronounced brush work.

The love of working in the open air and the love of old architecture often lead me to the grounds of abandoned structures; if a place is not routinely used, I can set up my easel and work there without being in anyone's domain, creating the entire painting on location.

Pursuing the impressionist's method of open-air painting in our shrinking world is challenging, yet the hunt for free ground is highly motivating, even primal. It hearkens back to my childhood when we made forts in vacant lots, and wove stories about long-abandoned shacks hidden in the woods where we prowled.

Working out in the open also allows people to take an interest in the art, and invariably I hear stories from passers-by about the places where I paint. It is very gratifying when someone who has a stake in an old house thanks me for making a painting of it. It is also gratifying to help spark street life, as people often congregate around where I paint. People from every walk of life respond to my work.

Further motivating is the passing beauty when an old building, resonant with past lives, is falling or in danger of being torn down. As the construction of an old brick building took time, and was done by hand, so the making of a painting takes time and is done by hand. By setting my easel in front of such structures to work, I mirror the making of art and architecture, brick for brick, and stand in contrast to a swift demolition process.

Very appealing is the vision of human structures after they've settled over time into the ground, revealing their organic integrity, layered with colors of age. Such buildings look as though they've grown up from the earth. I seek to affect this unified vision.

I allow details in my paintings to move in and out of focus so the painting is like our true experience of vision, that is, since our focus can only be on one point, all else moves out of focus, and continually moves as we shift focus. This is a key to impressionism.

Finally, I intimate a sense of the loss of a culture when we were more grounded: my subjects are often obstructed by vines and tree branches, or behind fences, the feeling being that they are out of reach. ---Peggy Snow