“There’s something magical about creeks for me.” — Ed Lawrence
The cold, slate gray form of dead branch isolated against the warm green tones of trees reflected in a creek; the deceptively abstract quality we find In a close up point-of-view of minnows swimming in the shallow water of a creek bed; the organic cathedral formation of trees lining both sides of a woodland stream. These are but three Ed Lawrence images that make him the epitome of a fine nature photographer. His work captures both the grandeur and the intimacy of the Kentucky landscape in a context that borders on sacred.
Lawrence has worked in various mediums, but he returned to his early love of photography after retiring, shooting alongside his oldest son, who had discovered one of his father’s old film single lens reflex cameras. The two of them traveled together shooting, the son on film and the father digitally, and Lawrence’s passion was renewed. He considers himself less of a technician, saying: “I could care less about the world of apertures, f-stops, ISOs and metering.” Ed Lawrence just uses a camera to paint what he sees.
“There’s something magical about creeks for me,” he explains. “When I am in a creek, I feel like I am in a world of my own with meandering paths of water and rock protected by canopies of trees. Surrounded by the beauty of wildflowers along the bank, the wonder of birds, fish and fascinating creeping crawling things and the dappling light make creeks my place of reflection both literally and figuratively.”
“All seasons appeal to me. The brilliant colors of autumn leaves falling and sinking beneath the water, the ice and snow formations of winter and the pinks and blues and greens of spring growth transform the same site on the same creek into a very different place. My favorite sensation is the coolness of the air drifting downstream when the summer heat is otherwise unbearable.”
Lawrence will be one of the photographers in a group show at the City Gallery at the Downtown Arts Center, Lexington Kentucky Creeks - paintings and photographs by four Kentucky artists, which will run February 10 through April 2, 2017. He also has published book of photographs, “Kentucky 120” A county-by-county portrait of Kentucky, published by Zedz Press.
Hometown: Frankfort, Kentucky Age: 67 Education: Studied fine art at the University of South Florida and Communications at the University of Kentucky but do not have a degree. My photography is for the most part self-taught. Website:www.edlawrencephotography.com
Not all artists have studios outside of their home, making participation in Open Studio Weekend a different challenge. Perhaps the best solution is when one artist invites another to join them for the weekend. Robert Leo Jones and Tom Cannady have been friends long enough that he was comfortable doing exactly that. Both are painters, but the differences in their work provide a striking contrast. Jones working mostly in abstract expressionism – I can think of no painter I have recently observed who more clearly harkens back to Pollock and the ‘drip’ technique from middle 20th century American painting, while Cannady is unabashedly representational, although his sun drenched images of Americans at leisure and the predominance of vintage automobiles connect us to the same period as Jones technique.
Even when working figuratively, Jones’ color palette tends to darkness, so we see none of the well-lit, carefree escapades of a flourishing middle class that we find in Cannady’s images. Even though we are only looking at their work together because of circumstance, it is a tantalizing thought that the two might be working two sides of the same street; Cannady capturing the warm nostalgia for a time that seems deceptively simpler, a period that often is held up as an ideal of American morality, while Jones probes the inevitable heart of darkness lurking beneath the surface of that rose-colored memory.
Cannady currently has pieces at the Makers Crucible Showroom in downtown Louisville, and he has a solo show opening there on December 8, 2016.
Jone's work has been featured at Huff Gallery at Spalding University, Urban Design Studio, Art [squared], and currently at Take A Seat, an exhibition at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, Kentucky. Although predominately a painter, Jones also works occasionally in furniture repurpose and design. His current projects are layered paintings done in acrylic on canvas or Masonite panels.
You can visit Tom Cannady and Robert Leo Jones in Jone’s studio in Old Louisville during OPEN STUDIO WEEKEND, November 5 & 6, 2016. The event benefits scholarship programs for Louisville Visual Art and University of Louisville’s Hite Art Institute and tickets may be purchased here.
Name: Tom Cannady Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky Age: 58 Education: BS in Marketing and a minor in Art, Murray State University Website:http://www.tjcannady.com
Name: Robert Leo Jones Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky Age: 72 Education: BS in Marketing, Kent State University Website:http:///www.robertleojones.com
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