Dave Hall . . . from
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Hall
took a class with Wayne Geary at Roland Hall St. Marks four years ago
this fall. "I just knew when I started painting that it would be oils.
I liked the texture and the smell. I had never painted in oils before.
I kind of knew the feeling I wanted, but I didn't know anything about
what you mix with oils or the dos and don'ts. That year or the next
I went half time at the school where I worked. A couple years ago
I took a class at the University of Utah with Connie Borup, which was mostly
color theory. She's been a real mentor for me."
Hall says the best thing
he did was to get a studio a little over a year ago. "As soon
as I got the studio at Rockwood, it felt like a job. I just decided
to leave Roland Hall and paint full-time."
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"Theorem Still Life" by Esther
Bailey Hall
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His first
step as a professional artist was donating a painting to the Roland
Hall St. Mark's Auction. "A lot
of people I didn't even know bid on it -- which was a good sign and it
did incredibly well. After that I asked the headmaster if I could
do a show in the new library. It was kind of like a big Tupperware
party: you have all your stuff, make a lot of food and invite all your
friends. I sold 16 out of 22 paintings. The first thing I did
was schedule another show. I did another one several months later,
made a lot of food, invited my friends and sold 11 or 12 paintings."
This initial success was just the beginning of Hall's fast-forward
artistic career. After his first two shows, he decided that
the do-it-yourself exhibits were over for him. "It was working,
but I needed another venue where more people could see my work, rather
than just my friends. Susan Meyer Jones saw my work and liked
it so I'm showing at the Meyer Gallery in Park City and then I just
had another show in Jackson Hole. I also opened up at the recent
floor to ceiling show at Phillips Gallery and sold a couple paintings there."
The Four Generations of American Painting exhibit in
October is a family show that Dave Hall and his father have been
planning for awhile. Even though he has a strong presence of
artists in his family, he didn't give it much thought until he was well
into his newfound career (granted, several months was "well into" for
David Hall). "I knew my dad's eightieth birthday was in the fall.
I always loved his work and the fact that he was an artist. I
decided that I wasn't going to ask him to do it until my first show
was over. For all I knew, nobody would come or nothing would sell.
After it did well I suggested we do a show together and we've been planning
it ever since."
Dave's father, Vernon Hall, was an engineer before he started
painting professionally, but unlike Dave, he dabbled in drawing his
whole life. "Growing up he was always the guy people came to for little
art projects. He was the sports cartoonist for his college paper.
His stuff has always been around, but his style is not my style.
My father is very geometric. The way he signs his paintings is very
horizontal with nice clean letters. I remember when I was about eight
years old, he taught me perspective drawing. I also remember coloring
in a coloring book and my dad leaned over my shoulder and said 'Remember
to stay in the lines.' I remember the feeling I had, like I immediately
wanted to scribble."
Hall also has many
childhood memories of his grandmother Esther, who died in 1982.
Out of the four artists in this show, Esther is the only one who made
art her lifelong profession. "She started out as a fashion illustrator,
before they used photography for that sort of thing. I grew up about
an hour away from her in New England. I remember she showed me
gold leaf when I was really young. I also remember her sending hand-painted
Christmas cards to everyone in the family. They were wonderful
little watercolors."
"First Light in the Park"
by Dave Hall
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Thomas
H. Snow, Hall's great-great grandfather was more of a mystery. "He's
this person I haven't really given much thought to until the past few years.
His paintings were in the family growing up, but he was just this relative
who was out there. I don't know if Thomas Snow even sold any paintings
or not. He did sporting scenes. He was an avid hunter and fly fisherman
and painted a lot of grouse. He hunted back in the mid 1800's. I
do a lot of fishing so I started relating to him and I started asking my
dad more questions about him just in the past year."
Hall says out of all the artists
in his family he probably relates most artistically to Thomas Snow.
"Snow did rural landscapes and he painted in oils like I do. Right from
the start I knew the feeling I wanted to evoke. I really had a good
sense in my heart of what I wanted. I love landscapes. I love morning
light and evening light. If I get out before the sun comes out
and there's mist coming up, it really inspires me."
"Pastoral
Scene" by Thomas Snow
Hall's artwork has a
hazy and Tonalist nature that is better appreciated in person. After all,
muted colors and faint forms don't translate to pixel or print with
much accuracy. "The way I paint is how I feel about those places. I really
like simple shapes, a horizon and a group of trees. I take a digital photograph
and look at it and then don't refer to it again. I'm trying to
stay away from the side of my brain that's analytical. I don't
feel like it has to be exactly what I saw, it's more the feeling."
The Four Generations
of American Painting will feature the artwork of all four artists
in Dave Hall's family, with the paintings by Dave and his father Vernon
up for sale. Hall is thrilled to be exhibiting with his father. "Two
years ago I put my first frame around a painting and showed it to my
dad. He said, 'What is this impressionistic crap?' I think he's real proud.
It's a wonderful feeling."
Hall knows that he's
enjoyed unusual fortune. It typically takes years and years for an
artist to reach a point where they even make a profit – if that ever happens.
"If I hadn't had those successes early on I don't know where I'd be.
I've had enough success that I can keep going. I feel good about
where I'm heading and how I'm developing."
Four Generations
of American Painting will be on display at Squashworks, 255 South 500
East in Salt Lake City for two days only: October 17 and 18 with an artist
reception on Gallery Stroll evening, Friday the 17th. After that, the show
will move to 15th Street Gallery/Framing on 1519 South 1500 East from October
23 to November 20, 2003.
Preview the show beginning October 1 at
www.blainecreek.com
.
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Information for the news nibbles
section can be sent to:
artistsofutah@netzero.net
The deadline for the next issue
is October 28th.
For continuing announcements from Utah's visual
arts community, visit
AoU's Daily Calendar
of Events and the
AoU Forum
.
On September 3rd, Haven J.
Barlow and Connie Borup received the Governor's Awards in the Arts.
click here
for more info.
Suzanne Kanatsiz and Bonnie Sucec received the 2003 UAC Fellowship,
works on display at the
Rio Gallery.
Because the Utah Arts Council's visual arts department is being moved out of its current location it will be losing the Rio Gallery space. Consequently, all exhibits for 2004 have been canceled. If you want to write a letter
to your legislator expressing your concerns about the lack of public venues
for exhibiting contemporary artwork, email: Beverly Evans,
bevevans@ubtanet.com
Loraine Pace, Lorainepace@utah.gov
The Jewish Arts Festival is fairly new in the Salt
Lake Valley and is looking for new quality artwork as part of this event. They
are in search of work that is either Jewish in nature or non-religious.
For more information contact Debbie Kesner - Steinberg Adult and Jewish
Programs Department Adult@slcjcc.or
501-0098 x-118
or visit the AoU Forum.
CELEBRATE THE ARTS!—In Downtown Ogden, October 3
& 4, 2003
Local artists young and old alike will be creating temporary pastel
masterpieces "Imaddonari" on the sidewalks of Historic 25th
Street, during the October 3 & 4 Celebrate the Arts! festival
in downtown Ogden.
For more info contact Robin Macnofsky801-393-3866
or visit the AoU Forum.
The Utah Watercolor Society is opening the Betsy Dillard
Stroud workshop to any artist interested in taking it. The workshop
will be held in the Rockwood Building, 1064 East 2100 South #22 (Karen Thorsen
and Nancy Maxfield Lund's Studio). It will run from 9:00am-4:00pm Oct
6th-10th. The cost is $300.00.
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