April 1 - May 1, 2010

THE LAURA RUSSO GALLERY IS PLEASED TO PRESENT:


Tom Fawkes : New Paintings

Judith Poxson Fawkes : Water & Wind - Recent Tapestries

OPENING RECEPTION:
First Thursday April 1, 2010
First Thursday Hours, 5-8pm


Tom Fawkes



Tom Fawkes
Jardim Botanico do Porto-Parterre 2009
acrylic on wood panel
24 " x 48"

Portland artist Tom Fawkes paints gorgeous scenes inspired by the landscapes of Italy, Portugal, and the Mediterranean. He combines architectural elements with the imagery of gardens to depict light, space, and atmosphere. Layering rich passages of acrylic paint, Fawkes paints on canvas or wood panel. With this exhibition, he offers expansive views of Portuguese gardens, and more intimate, quiet studies of the ruins of Pompeii. The artist’s virtuosic skill with illusion guides the viewer on a seductive excursion to sensuously mannered, man-made destinations.

An MFA graduate of Cranbrook Academy of Art, Tom Fawkes taught at the University of Oregon and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the 1960s. Since 1972 Fawkes has taught drawing and painting at the Pacific Northwest College of Art and has received several awards including an OAC fellowship, an NEA fellowship, and a Rockefeller Foundation grant. His works are in numerous collections including Safeco, Microsoft, the Seattle Art Museum, and the Portland Art Museum.

More examples by Tom Fawkes

Judith Poxson Fawkes


Judith Poxson Fawkes
Northeaster 2009
linen double weave
42" x 41.5"

This exhibition, titled Water and Wind, utilizes Judith Poxson Fawkes’s richly woven designs to explore the power and beauty of the natural elements of wind and water. The unique technical qualities and visual elements of woven design, allow Fawkes to define and determine shape through interwoven colors and the weft and warp of her tapestries. She utilizes both double weave and inlay techniques. The results are shimmering forms that undulate across fields of color, often creating 3-dimensional illusion. While most of this show features abstract suggestions of the flow of water or the movement of wind, some of the more dimension tapestries also include shapes that vividly suggest boat forms moving across undulating bodies of water.