JOHN DONNELLY AT MARCIA'S!

WHIMSICAL RHYTHMS! -- JOHN DONNELLY, Professor of Art, a much exhibited artist, has long been fascinated the concepts of beauty,art, -- and beauty's stereotypes! His vibrant paintings will show at MARCIA EVANS Art Consultant and Gallery thru October.


Donelly likes, but does not over-use, tree greens and bright reds. His aesthetic taste ranges from The Venus of Willendorf -- to Tinker Bell in Peter Pan -- to Marilyn Monroe, "MM," and "JFK," John Fizgerald Kennedy! John has a deep respect for the great white whale, Moby Dick. -- In fact, Melville's book, especially Father Maple's sermon and the great white whale itself, have been major inspirations for this audacious, -- sometimes in your face -- artist!

Again, Donnelly's work manages to be "catchy," -- that's my description.
At the same time it falls between Pop and Conceptual boundaries -- minimal and fun! John can paint abstracts which are original, complex, and very attractive. He understands layering and over-and-under painting and mixed media -- all that good stuff! When Marcia Evans said she had web images available, I was quite pleased.


Donnelly teaches drawing and painting at Mount Vernon Nazarene University, and, not long ago, won the Frey Award. Among places other than galleries, he enjoys showing his work in upscale restaurants. At Rosendale's his Tinkerbell, as in Peter Pan, evokes much popular commentary.
Donnelly loves Italy and manages to study and paint there part of the time, and he is a successful portrait painter.



MARCIA EVANS is at 8 East Lincoln where everything is always elegant and cutting edge. Cool.

PS. There is an ARTIST'S RECEPTION on Saturday, September 5, from 4 to 7 pm at the gallery. -- See ya!

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BEAUTIFUL 'SCAPES at "SHARON'S!";

BETWEEN TWO TREES is a serene, luminous, and unpretentious exhibit of medium-to-small landscapes, nearly all of them inspired by the Ohio countryside, nearly all of them painted in watercolor-with-oil. The exhibit can be seen at the lovely Sharon Weiss Gallery in the Short North District of Columbus, Ohio.

The artist, ELAINE FREEMAN, is the lyrical creator of these "canvasses" which glow, like small bonfires, campfire coals, in soft rich colors. --Freeman is an astute colorist, and an aware minimalist! Her shapes and her subtle power-hues exemplify the dictum: "LESS IS MORE." Her titles express her "eye" for the rural and the proximate. She lives near Hover Dam. Her titles reveal her "provenance" . . . NORTH OF BUCYRUS; BANDONED FARM; LAKESIDE SUNSET . . . MARSH DREAMS depicts "the end of a road in New Albany, between two subdivisions" . . . OXBOW VISTA, on pastel and Wallis paper, reveals -- with simplicity -- a road in Delaware County. Near-by hangs THE WOODS AT OXBOW . . . "The trees tell their story," Freeman writes, "standing there guarding the road from Alum Creek."

ROSES IN WINTER, a departure from the "scapes", is a successful abstract. The ugly brown roses, starkly "blossom-less", stand tall and proud in an invisible Ohio winter that makes us shudder. --This painting takes place in our imaginations. Freeman is versatile. She is one of the most killed portraitists around. --Yet, ROSES, an abstraction, reveals a "Cold" in which we recognize the raw and unadorned roses of abandoned ditches, fields, and gardens.

-- Go, see, buy. This artist is the master of understatement. If she has a weakness it may be her tendency to over-simplify. In general, I think not. FREEMAN's work is pleasing and engaging to say the least. Her exhibition list as well as her educational vitae are impressive. BETWEEN TWO TREES will show at "Sharon's" thru August 2009. In NOVEMBER Freeman will have paintings at The O.S.U. FACULTY CLUB.

The versatile and spectacular -- I said it and I'm glad -- VIKI BLINN will show at SHARON WEISS in SEPTEMBER. I'll be there with bells!

THE ART SCENE IN COLUMBUS IS JUMPIN' OFF THE MAP! AGAIN: BETWEEN TWO TREES shows at Sharon Weiss Gallery, 20 E. Lincoln, thru August 30. (614-291-5683). Freeman will exhibit at the OSU Faculty Club in November. . . "It was the purple iris I drew in kindergarten that piqued my early interest in art and that image remains a guiding star. . . Sun from my twelve years in California provides the light. Color, light, and shape are the major elements of my art . . . " -- Artist's statement by Elaine Freeman.

-- And aren't we lucky!