Date post: | 22-Jul-2016 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | gabriel-diego-delgado |
View: | 215 times |
Download: | 1 times |
PLUMAGEPLUMAGEPLUMAGE---TXTXTX Art Magazine
Summer 2015 Issue
Weldon Lister
Renaissance Engraver
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events
FREE
James Saldivar
Echoes of arts past
Frame of the Month
Sidney Sinclair
Russell Russell
StephensonStephenson
Metaphysical Metaphysical Metaphysical
Journeys Journeys Journeys
Podcast Interview
Art Consultant Insight
PLUMAGEPLUMAGEPLUMAGE---TXTXTX
FEATURES Summer 2015 Issue No. 4
50 Auctions
Compare auction prices of a
few choice vintage paintings
32 James Saldivar
Art Exhibition review of
“Echoes” show at Melinda
Martinez Gallery
20 The Inspirations
An interview with Russell Stephenson
2 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
PLUMAGEPLUMAGEPLUMAGE---TXTXTX
IN THIS ISSUE
10
IN EVERY ISSUE
A Note from the Publisher –P.6
On the Cover—P.8
Contributors— P.9
Framing of the Month—P.42
Designer’s Quill—P.46
PLUMAGEPLUMAGEPLUMAGE---TXTXTX Summer 2015 Issue
PUBLISHER
Gabriel Diego Delgado
All artwork photography courtesy of J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art
Prices are for current artwork, and can change at any time
© 2015
JR Mooney Galleries
305 S. Main
Boerne, Texas
78006
830-816-5106
Edited by Gabriel Diego Delgado, Marla Cavin, Katherine Shevchenko , Betty Houston
Design by: Gabriel Diego Delgado
Contributing Writers
Gabriel Diego Delgado
Katherine Shevchenko
Betty Houston
A Note from the Publisher
MORE RAIN, MORE FLOODING, MORE HEAT, MORE
MOSQUITOES, OH SOUTH TEXAS HOW WE LOVE
YOU. SUMMER HEAT MEANS MASS EXODUS OUT
OF TEXAS. WE ARE BEGINNING TO SEE THIS WITH
OUR CLIENTS. PEOPLE ARE GOING OFF ON
VACATION, TO THEIR SUMMER HOMES AND TO
EUROPE; ONLY TO RETURN WHEN THE TEXAS HEAT
IS NOT SO STIFLING. BUT SUMMER ALSO BRINGS
CHANGE AND ARTISTS LABORING IN THEIR
STUDIOS MAKING NEW ARTWORK TO HAVE
INVENTORY FOR THE COMING FALL SEASON. LET’S
RIDE OUT THESE NEXT FEW MONTHS WITH
DRIVEN PASSION FOR WHAT AWAITS.
PLUMAGE-TX hopes to use its pages as a vehicle to
educate, entertain and enlighten our audience on a
variety of topics ranging from reviews, news, artist
narratives, interviews, criticism and a cohort of other art related stories from within the
gallery walls to the major metro centers. I hope you find this informative and hope you
continue to follow the artistic happenings around you in your local neighborhoods.
Sincerely,
Gabriel Diego Delgado, Publisher
6 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
On the Cover
As Boerne, Texas is one of the fastest growing
metro areas in Texas behind Austin and San
Marcos, I felt it was appropriate to include the
windmill and water tank at Walmart’s parking
lot—opposite of the Boerne Welcome Center
on Main St. / 87. It’s such a dichotomy to see
this, which represents small town country
nostalgia but juxtaposed next to a big box
store that represents free market,
gentrification, expansion, growth, economic
development and so many other things. Yes,
Boerne is a changing and there are so many
signs.
8 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
Contributors
Katherine Shevchenko has attended the San Francisco Academy of Art University and the University of Texas at San Antonio where she received her Fine Arts Degree with an emphasis in Painting. Her experience ranges from interning as a curatorial assistant at Southwest School of Art to teaching art to students of
all ages. Currently, she is an art consultant/framing designer at the J.R. Mooney Gallery in Boerne. Some of her contributions include writing articles, hosting and editing the J.R. Mooney podcast, "Mooney Makes Sense" and art catalog design. She is also an artist that specializes in painting in oils and other media.
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 9
Gabriel Diego Delgado is the Gallery
Director at J.R. Mooney Galleries of
Fine Art, Boerne, Texas. He has spent
almost a decade in Nonprofit Art
Management- working as a Curator of
Exhibitions at the Station Museum of
Contemporary Art, Houston; Project
Manager of Research and
Development at the Museo Alameda,
a Smithsonian Affiliate, San Antonio;
Community Outreach/ Communications Director for an art and
education nonprofit in Texas and is a working professional artist.
He is a Freelance Curator and Arts Reviewer for several
publications. His artwork has been shown in Arco 2012 Madrid,
Spain; New York, New York, MOCA (Museum of Contemporary
Art) D.C. as well as numerous galleries and venues throughout
the U.S.
COVER STORY
A Curatorial Review of Russell
Stephenson’s “Mindscapes”
Exhibition
Metaphysical Metaphysical Metaphysical
JourneysJourneysJourneys - Gabriel Diego Delgado
A Curatorial Review of Russell
Stephenson’s “Mindscapes”
Exhibition
Metaphysical Metaphysical Metaphysical
JourneysJourneysJourneys - Gabriel Diego Delgado
12 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
“Mindscapes”, a solo exhibition of new
work by San Antonio artist, Russell
Stephenson is a curated spotlight of art that
engulfs the viewer into a metaphysical
journey through sci-fi-esque renditions of
Texas typography, juxtaposed and coupled
with the artist’s own exploration of mind
and world shaped by personal afflictions.
From violent thunderclouds masquerading
as crowns for celestial auroras of heavenly
atmospheric amalgamations (halos) in
Corona to canyons and mountains
portrayed as conceptual struggles in identity
- an artist’s simplified battle of good vs. evil
in The Majestic, we feel an undercurrent of
cosmic exploration with a signature medium
by way of a quest for self-discovery.
Current events like the recent flooding in South Texas,
the massive supercells over the Texas Panhandle and
the artist’s own drive to experiment all play a role in
Stephenson’s influences for “Mindscapes”. Examples
of emotion abutted by landscape explorations can be
found in the calmness of mind of “Silent Solitude,” but
contrasted in “Castleaine” with its compositional
angles; assumptive tectonic plates that jut upward,
forced from the subterranean by violent burst of the
grinding fault lines.
With the inclusion of two artworks from the “Cave
Painting” series, “Cave Painting III & V”, the audience
delves into the past with visual investigations of the
primordial gestures of primitive man: a rock art
aesthetic that references the cave paintings of Lascaux,
Texas’s own Pecos region and Palo Duro Canyon.
“Castlelaine”, 24” x 36”, Oil
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, May 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 13
Stephenson strives to
capture intuitive
application of creative
need in his own color
palette aesthetic while
retaining his mastered
craft for his push and pull
of textures – i.e. the
divots, cracks, creases, and
pockets of layered grooves
that capture our wild
imaginations. The
scrapped and gouged paint
give rise to his pursuit of
reconnection to art history
by way of contemporary
applications.
“Cave Painting V”, 12” x 16”, Oil
“Cave Painting III”, 18” x 24”, Oil
14 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
When I recently met with artist, Russell Stephenson at his Alamo Heights studio we had already been
discussing “Mindscapes” on the phone, in text and email for about four months. To see the artwork in
person prompted a crisscross of casual conversations mixed with a professional inquiry. I saw a change in
his mood, a kind of creative uncertainty mixed with a newly acquired cynical-ness of contemporary art
market vitality. I heard of his new gallery prospects in Santa Fe, NM, disappointments with the regional
affairs and ways in which he felt his artwork was going to mature. This insightful off-the-cuff conversation
led me to further investigate the ways in which to formulate his exhibition.
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 15
As our conversation continued in the studio, it
led to Stephenson’s other Texas galleries and
the bodies of work he needed to execute for
them; each one exhibiting a different series
ranging from strict grid patchwork designs to
formal abstractions.
Over the course of the last few years he has deliberated
how to blend these styles into one pure signature
aesthetic. His techniques and medium manipulations in
any of his series reflect a signature Russell Stephenson
touch, but each gallery wanted visuals that appealed to
certain demographics and art markets.
….celestial auroras of ….celestial auroras of ….celestial auroras of
heavenly atmospheric heavenly atmospheric heavenly atmospheric
amalgamations (halos) amalgamations (halos) amalgamations (halos)
in Corona to canyons in Corona to canyons in Corona to canyons
and mountains and mountains and mountains
portrayed as conceptual portrayed as conceptual portrayed as conceptual
struggles in identity...struggles in identity...struggles in identity... I began to understand he was starting to figure out a
way to deviate from gallery dictated ventures to
creating something new, a combobulation of sorts for
all of his contractual obligations he was fully invested
in. This thoughtful approach was refreshing to hear,
as he was beginning to understand how to dig out
from his muddled aspects of five separate directions
to one strong maturity.
16 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
The new artwork for “Mindscapes” was much more than that typography driven formulation. In over a
year, I saw a maturity in style, a mastery of technique, a willingness to explore tools that include: sticks,
rocks, spatulas, and palette knives which brought about a new sense of conquer, of student vs. teacher,
and Stephenson playing the subordinate to the art. He learned along the way and in the course of being
schooled by his creations, he found philosophical substance. Conjectural aspects of personal inner
struggle, an inward reflection of self that transcribes physical boundaries to be projected out and
manifested as conceptual regurgitations, as he bears down and expels proof of everything around him
that affects his mindset- whether political, social, or environmental.
Rews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 17
Opposite Page: “The Majestic”, 30” x 30” , Oil
Upper: “Silent Solitude”, 30” x 30”, Oil
Lower: “Surge”, 18” x 30”, Oil
J.R. Mooney Galleries
“Mooney Makes Sense”
Podcast Series Presents:
An Interview with Artist
Russell Stephenson By: Katherine Shevchenko
This June, J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art hosted San Antonio artist and contemporary abstract painter,
Russell Stephenson, and his new body of work entitled Mindscapes. Russell Stephenson took some time
on the eve of his show’s opening to discuss his art and his current modes of thought and influences that
are currently driving his work.
A native Texan, Stephenson has been based out of San Antonio for the past 11 years, but has ventured
throughout the United States observing and gathering inspiration for his art. Stephenson elaborates,
“Throughout my extensive travels and explorations, I’ve been all over the United States… I’ll always try to
bring some of the inspiration that I always got from nature into the work in one form or another.”
As an artist, Russell Stephenson has been on a lifelong journey that started early in his life, “I’m one of the
stereotypical artists that was born with a pencil in my hand and I’ve been drawing since I could hold a
pencil and scribbling on the walls with crayons. My artistic journey started from then and has become this
long paced development of an unique voice that has developed over time through professional academics
and my own experimentation.” Everyday life and its challenges and joys merge into his abstractions; they
are processed through his hand as he creates. “So periodically, my work changes and evolves, depending
on how I’m growing in that particular period and what occurrences happen in the news on a daily basis.
And what events occur in my own life and times and the people that I know and it all kind of gets thrown
into a blender, so to speak, and mixed in together and it all comes out in one form or another in the studio
when I work.” When Stephenson works, the execution and craft are at once in force, picking up anything
that can be used to translate the feeling and effect he is striving to achieve. Stephenson elaborates, ”I’m
always experimenting with different techniques and different tools in order to explore the mark-making
aspect of my work.
20 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
Sometimes that involves a pencil, sometimes a brush, sometimes a spatula, sometimes something out of
the kitchen drawer...”.
Currently, Stephenson has created a painting series that references the landscape, yet in a more
conceptual and introspective nature than his previous bodies of work. Having grown up in the Texas
Panhandle, the expansive landscape permeates his subconscious, manifesting in exploratory renderings in
paint. One of the
signature paintings in the
exhibition, Corona, depicts
textural cloud formations
hovering with tension over
an earthen toned horizon.
Stephenson explains in
depth, “Corona is
influenced by that
landscape and even more
recently by the recent
thunderstorms that have
ravaged Texas... the idea
of the super cell that kind
of carries an idea and then dumps it at will wherever it may; I think they’re quite spectacular, sometimes
they bring life and sometimes they bring death. They fill lakes that are ravaged by drought, but at the
same time they overflow rivers and cause devastation. So the power of nature has shown up in this recent
body of work, because we’ve seen so much of it lately.”
Having done realistic figurative work in the past, Stephenson’s process has evolved to transcend the figure
to wholly depict the world
the figure inhabits and is
experiencing. “What
started as landscapes
ended up as an internal
thing in the mind. Once I
got all the way through
school, the figure started to
come out of the work, and
then I just concentrated on
the world itself and thereby
the viewer of the paintings
became the figure and the
work that (cont’d on next
page)
“Corona is influenced by that landscape
and even more recently by the recent
thunderstorms that have ravaged
Texas... the idea of the super cell that
kind of carries an idea and then dumps
it at will wherever it may…”
Rews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 21
hung on the wall became the world I was able to explore.” This transition of subject matter in relation to
the landscape has been a gestalt of psychological elements that have come together in his artistic
formation. The role nature plays in his work and how it enforces a sense of scale both literally and
metaphorically, causes Stephenson to reflect, “I’m certainly influenced by the natural world, I mean as we
all are; we are all affected by it.
From the immensity of the sky and what’s unknown underneath the waters and so on, we become very
small in comparison to the forces of nature.”
Ultimately, an abstraction of the landscape is
merely the result of Stephenson having
formulated a process to express all the intangibles
of the many multifaceted aspects of witnessing
various locales firsthand. “These are all collective
experiences over time of different places that I’ve
been to. In the artistic mind it turns into a totally
different language altogether, because there’s also
the exploration… into how to push the boundaries
in the work, rather than just capture what the eye
can see. But also try to develop something new
out of it and explore a new depth in some of the
works… and create a sense of realism in the
abstraction so the abstraction itself becomes its
own reality.”
Mindscapes is on display at J.R. Mooney Galleries
of Fine Art - Boerne until July 1st
Visit J.R Mooney’s podcast channel on Soundcloud® and YouTube® to listen to the full interview.
“These are all
collective
experiences over
time of different
places that I’ve
been to…”
22 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
Weldon ListerWeldon ListerWeldon Lister
“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”
COVER STORY
By: Gabriel Diego Delgado
Weldon ListerWeldon ListerWeldon Lister
“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”“The Texas Renaissance Man of Engraving”
Weldon Lister “The Texas Renaissance
Man of Engraving”
By: Gabriel Diego Delgado
Third generation engraver and small town artist using a
century old carving technique just gained a new level
of artistic credibility. Weldon E. Lister Jr. of Boerne,
Texas, an internationally recognized ultra-baroque
engraver of firearms, knives and jewelry and
accomplished intaglio printmaker, is making friends in
high places.
About half a year
ago, his timeless and
intriguing decorative
aesthetic captured
the attention of
Hollywood. The
History Channel
contacted the Texas
artist and commissioned him to create a series of
embellished, engraved and artistic Texas
emblems reminiscent of the Texas Rangers
Badge for the "Texas Rising" event at the
Alamo in San Antonio on Monday, May 18,
2015.
“Texas Rising” is a 10 hour television mini-
series on the History Channel that
premiered on May 25, 2015. “Texas
Rising” begins at the Battle of the Alamo
and chronicles the birth of the Texas
Rangers. As a celebration of this
miniseries, the History Channel wanted to
do something special for all the people
who were part of the concept, production,
directorship, and corporate sponsorship of
this television series.
28 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
“The only power equipment I used
was a drill press to make pilot holes
for the jewelers saw.” -W. Lister
Rews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 29
Lister saw it as an opportunity to
thank those people who were
instrumental in helping bring
attention to Texas through this
historic television series.
These unique awards were
completely handmade by the artist.
Each one started off as a 1/8" thick
and 4" in diameter round solid
sterling blank disc, intricately
fabricated, cut, carved and
engraved; complete with a grooved
coin edge.
“The only power equipment I used
was a drill press to make pilot holes
for the jewelers saw. It was a lot of
work especially considering there
were one dozen of them,” says
Lister.
30 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
“The engraving style I chose was based on what you'd
see on vintage weapons from the mid
1800's….something that goes along with the theme of
the Award.”
Look for more of Lister’s artwork on his website at
www.weldonlister.com
Photo Credit: All images are courtesy of the
artist, Weldon Lister
Rews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 31
James James James
SaldivarSaldivarSaldivar The New, The Old Work & The Artist
“A Need for a Reinvestigation of the Past”
COVER STORY
James James James
SaldivarSaldivarSaldivar The New, The Old Work & The Artist
“A Need for a Reinvestigation of the Past”
By; Gabriel Diego Delgado
“A Need For a
Reinvestigation of the
Past”
In “ Echoes” Saldivar returns to his roots..
an Antonio artist, James Saldivar recently opened a new exhibition, “Echoes”, at Melinda
Martinez Gallery, which consists of a potpourri of old, new, and experimental paintings. On
display is a collection that gives off an artistic reverberation of previously explored aesthetics.
Twenty plus paintings comprise all avenues of painterly/ sculptural exploration – from his
abstract pouring techniques to the 3-D string and stripe paintings. However, one collection of
new abstractions is the highlight of the exhibition. Measuring no larger than 12 inches square
each, five abstracted pours and autonomous manipulations pack a big ‘cosmic’ punch in a
small package. These Organics, as he calls them, are actually reinvestigations and
reevaluations of his previous abstract artwork from circa 2008 when he was beginning to
explore metaphysical properties of subconscious creation; nonfigurative manifestations that were initially
inspired by NASA captured images of the mysterious Universe.
Saldivar explains this regression as a need to revisit where he left off.
“This series is a compilation of the past few years where I've lost my way trying to fill the space in between,
usually filled with irrelevances. Something I'm searching for and realized I've gone off of my own path and
where I'm at now, my sense of being, my sense of enlightenment, my freedom, not in a political sense but
how nothing has control over my happiness, my career, or my education.
These painting were created in my new gallery/ studio, obtained by the need to change my energy. …
Energy from a metaphysical standpoint, the action of setting my chakras back in balance and creating a
new space, my temple to create again and to deny the mental block handed down by negativity.”
Not everything is on a smaller scale. “Laniakea” is a 36” x 36” oil and enamel on panel that illustrates a
calming sensibility with a neutral and subdued palette of badious earth tones. Milky cascades of icteritious
lava flow into the foreground, meeting the viewer with an off-the-edge composition, bringing the
experience into our physical proximity.
S
34/ PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
“There’s something that happens in the process, where my subconscious speaks
to me and lets me know what's happening. I try not to control my work. I have
control over placement but once that's done, I don't, and it becomes its own
entity,” he says.
Mostly self-taught, Saldivar has explored various avenues of contemporary work,
trying to find a unique voice to call his own. From Jackson Pollock inspired drip
paintings, to Morris Louis striped pouring, to cosmic abstractions to his newly
discovered 3-D string “paintings”, it is good to see Saldivar reconnect with his
past and continue to explore his older work with new eyes. His more mature
outlook, his scholarly studies and personal life experiences are bringing new life
to his artistic vision. No longer is he being influenced by his peers, a trap we all
fall into, but he is allowing room for personal growth and unedited exploration.
“Floating 1, 2, 3, and 4” are four paintings which show evidence of this rounding
the bend. These 12” x 12” paintings are miniature abstractions. Using the
viscosity of the thinners, paint, and mediums, Saldivar shows movement across
the canvas with the paint fraternizing in pools of coagulation. Frozen in time,
these paintings become more and more serene as you begin to categorize them
as meditative samplings; it is a kind of artistic granule hour glass, paint funneled,
moving to the other side by way of unseen force.
“Abstract work to me must be free; the universe must still be able to exist in the
work. I do have more control than I want. I don't mean to, want to, or even know I
do…..I've been controlling the work spiritually, with the universe. I am just another medium,” he concludes.
© Gabriel Diego Delgado
Photo Credit: Opposite Top: “Floating 4”,
12” x 12”. Opposite Bottom Left:
“Phantom”, 24” x 48”. Opposite Bottom
Right: “Just When You Believe”, 24” x 72” .
Top Left: “Floating”, 12” x 12”. Top Middle:
“Floating 2”, 12” x 12”. Bottom Left:
“Laniakea”, 36” x 36”. Bottom Right:
“Floating 3”, 12” x 12”. All Images are
courtesy of the artist, James Saldivar.
Rews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 35
BOERNE
PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New art and cultural initiative, “Third Thursdays” art opening affair launches in Boerne, Texas with local gallery leading the way in midweek events.
38/ PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
(Boerne, TX, 2015) – In an initiative to help relieve weekend event congestion, local art gallery, J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art- Boerne has launched a new initiative dubbed, “Third Thursdays”. As a way to create engaging midweek events that will not conflict with the diverse artistic and cultural events of San Antonio area during the weekend, “Third Thursday” allows the gallery to host a stand-alone art opening, adding something of significance to the daily event roster of activities local families, and art patrons can explore during the week. “Third Thursdays” will be in addition to the established and decades long “Second Saturday Art & Wine Crawl of the Boerne art community and Boerne Professional Artist (BPA). “Third Thursdays” is modeled after the McNay’s Second Thursdays Free Family Night, and the First Fridays, Second Saturdays and Fourth Fridays of various art districts in San Antonio - who lay claim to various weekend days to hold local art attractions on the same night based on general geography.
“We decided it was time to address the host of events that people have to decide on
doing during the weekend. There are so many activities in and around San Antonio, in not only the art sector but birthday parties, soccer games, outdoor activities and many many other things, that we felt it was in our best interest to not compete with them, but free up the weekend calendar and add an evening event to the weekday; give opportunity for patrons to visit the gallery during a less hectic time”, says Gallery Director, Gabriel Diego Delgado. “We know people are busy, and we thought if we created an event that was not conflicting with the majority of activities people have to choose from on their busy weekend, the more people could attend. During the peak of the NorthStar Mall J.R. Mooney Galleries, we had weekday evening opening, and it was heavily attended. Now is the time to properly address how well received this time slot is for people to get out and enjoy a cultural outing as they begin to wrap up the week and might be looking for something to do.”
As J.R. Mooney Galleries of Fine Art launches “ Third Thursdays” the first part of the Fall 2015 season they will commence with a bimonthly exhibition opening schedule, holding events every other month. An exhibition schedule of events will be available in the coming months.
“When we have months in-between major exhibition openings, there is a certain amount of flexibility we can offer with spur of the moment possibilities like artist lectures, workshops, and gallery talks”, says Delgado.
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 39
Framing of the Month
Standard 1/2” Gold speckled inside frame, house brand
This frame is a visual break from the darker muted color palette of the painting to the
middle wood inside step. The gold accents and the warm tones in the painting and adds a
hint of traditional framing aesthetic to a contemporary fine art profile.
Roma Framing: Tabacchino series, 7/8” Cigar Leaf finish, model #60387
This wood veneer finish complements the overall tones in the painting and grounds the
large bush in the foreground while interacting with the trees on the left as a strong
repetitive vertical element.
Larson-Juhl Framing: Sevilla series, Antique Gold finish, model # 550540
The ornate fashion of the repetitive curved pattern adds a defined motif to a painting
that is primarily feathered, muted and blurred. The underlying red tones that come out
from the distressed gold add the perfect color to compliment the red, orange and warm
tones in the painting.
Sidney Sinclair
Autumn Daze
18” x 24”
Oil
42 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
Framing of the Month
Rews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 43
Editor’s Note: J.R. Mooney Galleries is proud to present, “The Designer’s Quill” Interior Design & Framing
Tips, a monthly column spotlighting industry trends and hands-on advice in dealing with home interiors.
Written by the knowledgeable staff at J.R. Mooney Galleries, “The Designer’s Quill” will highlight tips,
reassurances, thoughts, and advice for those making changes to their home. It will also feature facets of
custom framing, including new moulding lines available, how-to walkthroughs and framing consultations.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
room that “just feels right”
can be elusive, but is very
achievable. Most of us
know what we like. We all respond to
color and subject matter in art. Yet scale
is often overlooked when choosing art
and how it relates to the size of the wall
and size of the room. The main wall or
main furniture sets the tone for the
scale of the art. If the ceiling happens to
be high, the taller and more dramatic
the art needs to be.
Survey the rooms of your home. If “something” does not
seem right it might be the scale of the art that needs
tweaking. Your can have the environment you desire by
removing, rearranging, and or replacing. Most interiors
benefit from art that is larger than one might initially
choose. This one decision can transform a space into an
extraordinary and memorable area. A unique opportunity
offered at J.R. Mooney Galleries is our concierge service. At
a client’s request and agreed upon time framed art can be
viewed in its intended area.
A
46/ PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
This is especially valuable as a large
painting is transported safely by
courier and consultation can take
place. The radius of this service is the
immediate San Antonio area.
© Betty Houston, Art & Framing Consultant
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 47
Graphic vectors courtesy of "Vecteezy.com/members/ zhaolifang"
Antonius Henricus "Toon" Koster, a renowned Dutch artist, was born in Schiedam, (South
Holland) Netherlands in 1913. He went to the Art Academy in Rotterdam, Netherlands and
became a painter, printmaker, industrial artist, enamellist and muralist. During most of his
artistic career he lived and worked in Nieuwkoop near the Nieuwkoopse Plassen. Koster was
a member of the Dutch Federation of Visual Artists, and died November 25, 1989 in
Woerden, Netherlands.
Koster often used dark earthy colors and painted in broad coarse brush strokes, creating
depressive and gloomy atmospheres; making for subtle impressionistic qualities.
When asked to which movement he belonged or which subjects he preferred, he answered:
“There is no movement… and everything repeats itself.”
“Night City”, is a signature city-scape by Koster that exemplifies all that he was known for:
boats, cities, gloom, illuminating sun/moon behind clouds, and his pictorial post WWII
depressive metropolis. A one point perspective only exacerbates the depressive complexity of
the work with the angling of the drab buildings that line the boulevards, structures as borders
for the blackened water in the industrial canal, a waterline that is cut midway down the
composition with the three arched bridge. We are boxed in on three sides with the horizon
line blocking an eternal view. However, our release from the melancholy is up into the sky,
but wait – impending catastrophes await us in the heavy snow laden billows that weigh down
on us with only a glimmer of light; a false hope.
Koster’s Night City evokes a more sinister evocation, a trembling sensibility of some sort of
impending doom. The overcast heavens bear down on us with god-like fury, a blackened sky
that covers the cityscape in an ashy haze. Snow-covered rooftops and barren trees suggest a
frigid climate, but the waterways are unfrozen, allowing safe passage of the passing boats.
The arches in Night City are like a trifecta of hollow, barren and utilitarian tunnels leading
the way to a banal canal.
All three are marked with a horizontal hint of white snow, a three level color scheme that
transitions from black, to white to grey, a repeated color palette of the artist’s choice.
Friedrich Nietzsche once said “Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the
torments of man.” ‘Tis true when dealing with Anthonius Henricus “Toon” Koster.
© Gabriel Diego Delgado
Anthonius Henricus
“Toon” Koster
(Jan. 19, 1913- Nov. 25, 1989)
Night City
$1,200 (framed)
24 “x 36”
Oil
(Below: Previous auction results)
50/ PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
G. (Gerald ) Harvey
(1933)
Late Reflections
$6,500 (framed)
9” x 12”
Oil
(Below: Previous auction results)
Gerald Harvey Jones (G. Harvey) was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1933. His grandfather
was a cowboy during the South’s trail-driving days. Family stories of wild cattle and tough
men from the patriarch experience became the basis for G. Harvey's art. A cum laude
graduate in Fine Arts at North Texas State University, Harvey took a teaching position with
the University of Texas in Austin for a few years only to quit and pursue art full time.
Harvey struggled financially for the next couple of years, but in 1965 he had acquired his
first esteemed exhibition, The Grand National exhibition in New York. This career spotlight
would only to be followed by the American Artists' Professional League presenting him with
their New Master's Award, a coveted bestowment that would only be a precursor to Harvey’s
successful artistic career.
Though Harvey has had nearly two decades of sell-out shows, an outstanding honor came
with a series of one-man shows in Washington, D.C. The first was at the National Archives
featuring his paintings of the Civil War era, and then a selection of paintings of notable
Washington landmarks was exhibited at the Treasury Department, culminating in a one-
man show of 35 paintings at the Smithsonian Institution during their exhibition of "The All
American Horse." The Smithsonian Institution also chose Harvey to paint "The Smithsonian
Dream," commemorating its 150th Anniversary.
Today, G. Harvey lives in Fredericksburg, Texas, with his wife Pat in a 150-year old stone
home built by German settlers. His studio and residence are nestled within the Historic
District of Fredericksburg.
In Late Reflections, Harvey presents us with a Texas Hill Country dusk scene that was
painted in 1966; an era that pre-dates his traditional western genre and impressionistic
vintage metropolitan scenes. Encapsulating a traditional vintage look, the color palette
somehow rests somewhere in the middle of light and dark with the tonalities straddling a bi-
polar spectrum with the bright colors of a setting sun and the warm shadows contrasted with
an almost faded and monotone foreground.
© Gabriel Diego Delgado
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 51
Helen Hunter was born August 4, 1920, the first child of Rufe M. and Lydia Goodwin Crain
in Pleasanton, Texas. As an adolescent, she took art classes under Ellie Wheeler, a well-
known Poteet artist whose teachers included the nationally renowned Bluebonnet painters,
Jose Arpa and Julian and Robert Onderdonk.
For two summers in high school she studied at the Witte Museum, taking community classes
in fine art. After graduating as Valedictorian in 1937, she attended Texas Woman's
University (formerly Texas State College for Women). She received her B.S. Degree in
Costume Design and Art Education in 1941. While attending the university, she was a
cartoonist for the daily newspaper, The Lass-o, as well as the art editor of the college annual,
The Daedalion (1940-41). Hunter was also a charter member of Delta Phi Delta, a national
honors art fraternity. After graduating, Hunter became an art teacher in the Cotulla Public
School System. During WWII she quit teaching to join the war efforts and began working at
Kelly Field Air Force Base in San Antonio. Eventually she was transferred to Galveston and
spent 2 years as a foreman in the Engineering and Drafting Department at the Galveston
Army Airfield. After the war, she became a graphic designer in the advertising department of
a woman’s retail store in San Antonio. Later, Hunter spent four years in Houston as an
Advertising Manager at Palais Royal, a national retail chain of women's wear.
Helen Hunter found her way back into the Fine Arts genre in 1957. First, she started to
study oil painting with John Squire Adams, and then spent 7 years mentoring with San
Antonio artist, Leslie Larsson. Hunter was a member of the Texas Watercolor Society, San
Antonio Watercolor Group, San Antonio Art League, Coppini Academy of Fine Art and the
Brush Country Art Club of Pleasanton, Texas. She has taught private art classes in San
Antonio, Dilley, Floresville and Pleasanton.
Hunter gained regional distinction for her renditions of cactus, wildflowers, birds and
brush country landscapes of South Texas. Her work is collected by many large corporations,
banks, insurance companies and business professionals. She was also featured in Southwest
Art Magazine, dated November, 1978.
Helen Hunter passed away in 2003, leaving behind a great artistic legacy and a secured
provenance in the Texas Vintage genre.
© Gabriel Diego Delgado and www.nanetterichardsonfineart.com
Helen Hunter
(1920 – 2003)
Cactus
$1,200 (framed)
8” x 10”
Oil
(Below: Previous auction results)
52/ PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015
W.A. Slaughter
(B. 1923)
Bluebonnets
$16,000 framed)
24” x 36”
Oil
(Below: Previous auction results)
W. A. Slaughter (b. 1923- 2003), a nationally recognized bluebonnet landscape painter and
WWII Air Force Veteran grew up in Texas amid the splendor and beauty of the Hill
Country. The serene landscape and rolling hills near his home in San Antonio were early
sources of inspiration for his developing artistic ability.
In 1952, Slaughter was ordained as a Lutheran minister. He served at an English-speaking
congregation in Mexico City, but returned to Dallas in 1964 to become the pastorate of The
King of Glory Lutheran Church. As an adolescent he had always dabbled in drawing and
painting, it wasn’t until 1972 that many historians reference the moment Slaughter decided
to dedicate himself entirely to painting, after retiring from the church in late 1971. He was
actively painting while preaching, and it is said that some of his earliest collectors were
church patrons. He exhibited his first set of bluebonnets in 1968 at a Dallas shopping mall,
and was “discovered” by Southwest Gallery in Dallas. Slaughter also exhibited at the Dallas
Artists and Craftsmen annual exhibitions and won awards in 1968 and 1973. He is rumored
to have been able to produce over 250 paintings a year in his prime.
Although a wide variety of landscapes inspired Bill Slaughter, it is the gentle beauty of the
Texas Hill Country that truly speaks to him. His canvases of fields of bluebonnets and
stately oak trees evoke memories of quieter times. W.A. Slaughter died in 2003. His
aftermarket presence is impressive with well over 100 auction records on file, which a
trackable increase in value.
© Gabriel Diego Delgado
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 53
“Mindscapes “Mindscapes “Mindscapes Russell StephensonRussell StephensonRussell Stephenson
Event Pictures Event Pictures Event Pictures
Opened: June 13, 2015, J.R. Mooney GalleriesOpened: June 13, 2015, J.R. Mooney GalleriesOpened: June 13, 2015, J.R. Mooney Galleries––– Boerne. TX. Boerne. TX. Boerne. TX.
Society Pages
Photography courtesy of : J.R. Mooney Galleries
56 / PLUME-TX Magazine Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer, 2015
Reviews/ Commentary/ Exhibitions/ News/ Events, Summer , 2015, PLUME-TX Magazine / 57
Installation Images of Exhibition Installation Images of Exhibition Installation Images of Exhibition
June 13 June 13 June 13 ———July 1, 2015 J.R. Mooney GalleriesJuly 1, 2015 J.R. Mooney GalleriesJuly 1, 2015 J.R. Mooney Galleries––– Boerne. TX. Boerne. TX. Boerne. TX.