| Featured Artists:
Second Saturday is right around the corner for September, 2015. At Fresh Gallery, we like to highlight our artists during the Second Saturday festivities. For September, it is our pleasure to feature our members, Robin Coulter Crabb and Alan O’Neal.
Robin Coulter Crabb is an exceptional glass artist. Her pieces range from whimsical to intricate and from traditional soldered to kiln slumped. “My favorite tool in creating my artwork is my glass cutter. With it, I can take a sheet of glass and cut the pieces to use as a painter would dip their brush.” says Crabb of her work.
Crabb says that glass is such a wonderful medium to work with. She may make a cheerful colored panel to hang in a window, or use an opaque glass to obscure the light and soften a room. As owner of Robin’s Nest Stained Glass, Crabb has been commissioned by numerous churches, commercial and residential clients. She never knows what her next request will be, and always welcomes a challenge so as to explore a new technique.
When Crabb works with glass, she is reminded that creating the art has not changed much for centuries. She begins a piece with a detailed drawing. A design is good when it flows on to the drawing paper effortlessly and excitement builds to start constructing it. “When people see my work, I’d like them to appreciate all the steps from design to soldering that creates the piece of art.” says Crabb. Currently, she is experimenting with casting glass with painted details and firing multiple times to create depth in the pieces.
Crabb’s pieces are stunning in the light. She has a wide variety of works. Some hang in windows and some sit on surfaces. She has everything from glass magnets to jewelry to full window panels to terrariums. It is quite a collection and should not be missed.
Our second featured artist for September is Alan O’Neal. O’Neal is a retired engineer. He started photography before he can remember, and some of the works offered for sale were taken nearly 25 years ago. O’Neal grew up in the country, still lives in the country, and has a fondness for nature. All of these things have an influence on the type of pictures he takes.
In 2004, O’Neal started doing Digital Art. His process is taking a photograph and creating an alternate image out of it. O’Neal says, “My computer and mouse are my pallet and paintbrush. Many times the final results will have no appearance of being a photograph. I find it neat that it is possible to have an alternate image of a good photo that is also pleasing.” For O’Neal, it is also satisfying to take a less pleasing photo and create a desirable image from it. He creates his photo art only from pictures that he has taken. His works can also be seen in the permanent collections at St. John’s Hospital of Springfield and Boone Hospital of Columbia, MO. In addition to those permanent collections, O’Neal has been represented in multiple galleries, juried shows and exhibitions. He has also received several awards, including the Juror’s Choice Award twice at the Waverly House Juried Exhibit in Springfield, MO.
In addition to taking all of his own photos, O’Neal does all of his own processing, printing, mounting and framing. His largest printer is 44″ wide. Any of his available photos can be custom printed and framed. O’Neal will be available to answer questions about his art and his processes during the First Friday Art Walk. O’Neal’s works are awe-inspiring. He takes subjects found in nature and through his expertise, manipulates the images in to striking representations. Some images are easily recognizable, and some are not, making them even more intriguing. |
