If you go
What: “Ink meets Nature,” a collaboration of photography, pen and ink.
When: Through Oct. 12; reception 6-9 p.m. Sept. 28.
Where: LoCo Artisan Coffee House, 54 N. Cleveland St., Loveland.
Cost: Free.
More info: locoartisancoffee.com.
Artist Stuart Wallace admits the concept for his latest art show, a collaboration with fellow Independence Gallery member artist Rae Ann Garrett, sounds like a recipe for disaster.
To finish each piece, Wallace would begin with one of Garrett’s photographs and used his chosen artistic instrument, a pen, to draw intricate lines and shapes directly onto it.
The result of this unorthodox combination is a unique visual experience for the viewer as each piece reveals different details when viewed from varying distances.
“The idea of this piece for me is that when you look at the photo from 10 feet away for the most part it looks like the original photo she took,” Wallace said. “The closer and closer and closer you get to them the more detail you see.”
Wallace said he did much of the drawing on each piece from just 2 inches away so to achieve the small and precise marks that create this unique effect.
He says this is exemplified by a dew drop on one of the images; a closer look reveals a skeleton carefully drawn in ink by Wallace. Many of the pieces contain such hidden forms and even messages, Wallace said, though he pointed out that nothing he has hidden is offensive in nature.
The unique visual experience that results from this collaboration, he said, is actually possible because of the different perspectives Wallace and Garrett have developed by working in their chosen mediums.
“She views [each one] as a photographer and is looking at each one as a finished frame and I look at things like an illustrator where I don’t necessarily see the whole picture. I see the texture and the lines,” he said.
Still, setting to work on each piece did not come without a little trepidation, Wallace said.
“Yes, it’s nerve-racking to take someone’s finished piece and then mess with it because it was beautiful before,” he said. “It didn’t need to be touched by anybody, so the fact that she let me take all these pieces and play around and she said ‘do whatever you want’ is really special.”
Garrett, on the other hand, said she felt neither anxiety about handing over each piece or regret about how they turned out. On the contrary, she describes the finished pieces as “a beautiful melding of two different worlds.”
“In college one of my professors encouraged us to explore different avenues with our photography so I actually used to paint and draw on my own photos,” she said. “That professor really dug it and I think it really enhances the pieces — especially the way [Stuart] works with them, which is so intricate.”
Paul Albani-Burgio: 970-699-5407, palbani-burgio@reporter-herald.com
