Four Granary regulars launched the summer season at the West Tisbury gallery last weekend. Vineyard photographer Alison Shaw, and Vineyard painters Kenneth Vincent and David Wallis have joined Vermonter Wendy Lichtensteiger with an array of new work that will be on display through July 11.
Mr. Vincent continues to draw inspiration from local landscapes enriched by his 11 generations of family connections to the Island. Among Mr. Vincent’s 14 new oil paintings on view are four in which he has used a palette knife to create a different, more geometric style than is usual for the artist. In “Tree Abstraction,” Mr. Vincent renders a portrait of a tree with green-leafed branches with an interesting, blocky feel. “White Cow” is another symmetrically balanced portrait, with the large, intricate, and mildly abstract hindquarters of the reclining bovine pleasingly highlighted with yellow. Working in a style more characteristic of his other work, Mr. Vincent explores a mix of intensity, serenity, and clarity in “Split Rock Study.” His “London Bridges Falling Down” offers a delightful rendition of Lucy Vincent Beach’s deteriorating rock face illuminated by a full moon. “There’s an awful lot you may not initially see in his work,” says gallery owner Chris Morse.
Mr. Vincent began sharing a studio at the former West Tisbury police station in January with watercolorist David Wallis, whose work is also on view at the Granary. This year Mr. Wallis is painting on Aquabord, a surface for watercolor that does not absorb the paint and does not require that the work be covered with glass. Mr. Wallis specializes in unusual angles and points of view, as illustrated in “Steel Away,” where the prow of the Katama ferry seems to lunge directly at the viewer. “I’m all about color and making as much of a statement with it as possible,” says Mr. Wallis, whose palette consists of primary colors.
Aquabord allows the artist to employ a larger proportion of pigment. In “Ayuthia Vineyard Haven,” he captures the intense blue of a boat rudder and propeller from an unusual close-up angle. Landscapes like “Plenty of Time” and “Off Season, West Basin” combine vibrant color with the delicacy of watercolor in foregrounds of grasses.
Photographer Alison Shaw’s new work at the Granary from her Artist Studio series includes “Fishing Lure, Paintbrush and Metal Box, David Wallis Studio.” Although most of the images from the series on display are studies in vivid color that combine elements of abstraction with the very concrete implements of creativity, this one explores a field of grays. “Paint Scraper & Palette, Kenneth Vincent Studio, West Tisbury 2015” injects an element of humor where the paint-covered scraper looks like a cartoon character.
The bulk of Ms. Shaw’s new images bring a new sense of muted color and concept to her work. In “Noman’s Land 2015,” two plankton-covered rocks emerge from the ocean in a way that blurs the distinction between water and solid. In “Oak Bluffs 2015,” where a jetty is visible just below the surface of the misty, blue-gray Sound, the artist explores similar nebulous territory. Because Ms. Shaw has built a reputation for images highly saturated in color, these handsome new marinescapes are striking in the way they soft-pedal color and object.
Wendy Lichtensteiger’s wildlife carvings turn wood recycled from log cabins, barns, and bridges into elegant depictions of birds and marine creatures. The Proctorsville, Vt., resident favors American chestnut for its wormy surfaces, full of cracks and checks. “I’ve even found bullet holes in it,” she says.
She finishes her wood sculptures by staining them with varying degrees of intensity. Her “Blue Lobster” wall hanging is an arresting bright shade, while “Green Heron II” and “Kestrel” adhere to more traditional coloring.
In the past few years, Ms. Lichtensteiger has begun making wall plaques of whales, taking over the work of Wick Ahrens, a woodcarving friend who had to enter a nursing home. “It’s a whole different type of carving,” says Ms. Lichtensteiger, “with new tools, and a new finishing process.” This year she has added “Moby Dick,” a 24-inch version of the famous white whale.
Ken Vincent, David Wallis, Alison Shaw, and Wendy Lichtensteiger, Granary Gallery, 636 Old County Road, West Tisbury. Through July 11. For information, see granarygallery.com.