Published: March 05, 2008 06:19 pm      

‘Feathers & Lead’ features local artists Overfield and Adams

FAIRMONT — For Derek Overfield, art isn’t necessarily just pretty colors.

It’s about simplicity. Contrast. Honesty. Directness.

He and fellow artist Lauren Adams are sharing a two-person exhibit, “Feathers & Lead: New Works in Acrylic,” through to March 29 at Solera Café, 318 Richwood Ave., Morgantown.

An opening reception will be held from 6-10 p.m. Sunday.

“I set out to paint in a very loose and spontaneous manner, reminiscent of Zen calligraphy, and to use its bold brushwork to capture its simplicity and vitality,” said Overfield, figure painter and Fairmont resident.

“I also strive to paint figures possessing the power and weight of Rodin’s sculptures and the expressiveness of Franz Kline’s mesmerizing abstracts.”

The 2003 graduate of Fairmont State has a bachelor’s in graphics/fine arts. He focused on drawing and painting the figure, studying under Lynn H. Boggess. He was awarded the Kinney Award Fine Arts Scholarship and numerous "Best of Show" awards in the fall and spring juried student exhibitions.

His work has been published in Whetstone, the art and literary journal of Fairmont State, and he was the feature contributor of Issue 25 in 2006.

Professionally he has exhibited his work in several competitions and exhibitions within West Virginia. In 2003 he was awarded "Best of Show" at the Upshur Arts Alliance Juried Art Show in Buckhannon. In 2004 he was featured in the group exhibition, Emerging, at the Callen McJunkin Gallery in Charleston.

In 2004 and 2005, he contributed to the group exhibition, “The Figure to Toe” at Cooper Gallery in Lewisburg. More recently his work has been featured at Wild Zero Studios in Morgantown in the form of the group show, “The Mustache Party Show” and his solo show “Self Portraits in Acrylic.”

He painted this series in black and white for many reasons, “in the pursuit of simplicity,” he said.

He paints only what he deems “most essential,” he said. “Omitting arms, clothing and background grants importance to the figure itself ... most importantly the head, neck and torso.”

Figures in this series began as a wash of paint, filled out with bold, black strokes alternating with grays ... an inspiration from Zen calligraphy. Intense whites or reds “establish areas of interest and complete the illusion of form,” he said.

Adams, a mixed media painter, specializes in art inspired by memory and real life. The Fairmont resident holds a bachelor of arts interdisciplinary degree in studio art and French from Fairmont State University, where she studied with acclaimed landscape painter Lynn Boggess. Among graduating cum laude, Lauren was also awarded the Outstanding Visual Artist of the Year Award, Whetstone Award of Excellence, Best of Show in the 2004 and 2006 CAOS Student Art Exhibit, the Blanche Kinney Fine Arts Scholarship, and the Mary Olive Eddy Jones Scholarship.

She is currently finishing the requirements for a bachelor of fine arts in painting at West Virginia University. While at WVU, she has been awarded the WVU Visual Art Scholarship as well as a Fine Arts Award at the California University of Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Juried Exhibition.

In 2004 she participated in the Seneca Trail Arts Guild Fine Art Competition in Elkins, as well as The Figure Head to Toe at Cooper Gallery in Lewisburg. She was also featured in the Upshur Arts Alliance Juried Art Show in Buckhannon in 2005. In 2006 and 2007 she participated in the Women of West Virginia Art Expo at Fairmont State University.

Most currently her work was featured at Wild Zero Studios of Morgantown.

Her newest body of work is the “feathers” part of the exhibit, inspired by Jack Kerouac’s Book of Haiku and by her own memory.

“His writing acts as a stylistic inspiration for my painting in that I also attempt to capture my own experiences in an evocative and simplistic manner, only with paint,” she said.

She paints with acrylic and spray paint on canvas, “featuring naturalistically rendered birds on most mostly monochrome backgrounds. The works are small in scale, in an effort to create an intimate, personal feeling. I strive to evoke in a simple way the feeling of a time and place.”

E-mail Debra Minor Wilson at dwilson@timeswv.com.