The Dutch Art Gallery has been nearby our digs for as many years as we have been in this part of town, and I have visited occasionally. I always felt a sense of comfort and home with the paintings and decor of this gallery. It’s also next door to the Divine Cafe, a breakfast nook at NW Highway and Ferndale that we have enjoyed for years. The group of shops ther have undergone a lot of changes, and recently Pam Masser has taken over the gallery since the passing of her husband’s parents. She is a very positive and engaging director of the gallery. One of the great ideas she is pursuing is group shows. An organization of 46 Texas Artists “The Daily Painters of Texas” contacted her again this year to do a collaborative show of art whose subjects are mainly Texas scenery and genre paintings.
Meadow of Sunshine by Kay Wyne
What surprises me, coming from my own background of ‘corporate’ artwork, is the size of most of the best of the show’s paintings. They are mostly in the 8 x 10 or 9 x 12 range, some even smaller. But in fact many are great little paintings with lively brushwork that brings one’s attention to the sense of detail. Many have a freshness of approach that rivals anything on a larger scale. This, paired with the fact that customers of the gallery have limited wall space in their homes suddenly made a lot of sense to me.
Many of the artists represented called in their friends and family members who were very supportive and interested in the entire display– the differences and similarities of style and subject matter were a significant topic of conversation. The relationships between the group members and their supporters was evident in ways that I do not remember from my past involvement with art groups.
In the distant past I remember attending art openings and the subjects of discussion were not about art or family, but mostly about awards or financial matters. That may be one of the reasons I stopped participating in juried exhibitions, though I actually had quite a bit of luck with the awards. What I didn’t miss was keeping track of those 35mm slides and constantly needing to have them commercially printed, and then wagging the work all over town on short schedules, or worse– shipping and returning work safely. When I was doing ceramic work, this was a ridiculous risk and expense, but framed work has its own problems as well. For the last twenty plus years I had the advantage of being included in larger one-way shipments to permanent sites. Oh for the return of that day!
But in the case of the Daily Painters of Texas, they paint so much smaller in general it is an entirely different situation, and the paintings really make a lot of sense on this kind of scale. It is something of a revelation to me. I think “Well, small works can actually have big presence!”
I personally enjoyed the opening, as I am working part-time for Pam, and had the pleasant opportunity to serve drinks, switch out some frames and generally be involved as part of the ‘hosting” side of things for a huge change. It is very heartwarming to have the opportunity to be a part of this local show. I feel suddenly more a part of this local Lake Highlands community (it is just a good, brisk walk from White Rock Lake) and makes me feel very good about continuing my White Rock Lake series of paintings.
It is really hard work, especially with large and heavy work that needs to be hung quite high. But in the end it looks really wonderful, with the waxed floors gleaming and the dramatic lighting. One of the artists featured is a Spanish artist, Alvar Sunol Munoz-Ramos who is “in the latter part of his career” and very collectible.
