‘Reflections’ to gleam at Middletown Arts Center

Small works show views of a body  of water outside artist’s window

Photos: Painter's work exhibited in Middletown

Encore Theatre adds younger production
11/6/09
Chinese acrobats swoop into area this weekend
11/6/09
LegacyFest concert Oct. 23 celebrates Miami’s birthday
10/18/09
> More headlines

By Eric Robinette, Staff Writer Updated 8:52 PM Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The highly touted “Reflections on a Pond” exhibit by the renowned artist Kevin Macpherson offers the painterly equivalent of time-lapse photography.

Whereas most major exhibits at the Middletown Arts Center feature several dozen medium or large paintings, “Reflections on a Pond,” which opens to the public Monday, May 18, is more than a little different.

Using 189 small, 6- by 8-inch paintings, the exhibit depicts views of the 1-acre Aspen Pond just outside Macpherson’s window in Taos, N.M. Painted from the exact same vantage point, looking east over the pond, the artwork shows how the view changed throughout the seasons.

Macpherson works in the “en plein air” technique, meaning that he paints outdoors, and what he is painting stands in plain view in front of him. It took Macpherson five years to complete the exhibit, only half of which is in Middletown; the artist made a total of 368 paintings.

Macpherson worked in the unusual small dimensions because “the lighting effects change so quickly. Working small, I was able to get a much better feeling of the scene.”

But the smaller paintings have an added benefit: they literally draw the viewer in.

“They make people look a bit more closely. Working on a smaller scale means people want to come up to them,” Macpherson said.

In this exhibit, a painting that may not make sense on its own becomes part of a whole. One of the paintings of the pond shows it as kind of a blur because Macpherson painted while it was raining, using lavender tones to depict the heavy rainfall and showing only the barest outline of the trees around the pond.

“I’m really looking for the color I see out there,” he said.

Seeing all the paintings completed “was very rewarding because it was one of things that was self-imposed. You know how it is when you get a good exercise program going? It was kind of like that,” Macpherson said.

The artist hopes that in being drawn closer to the paintings, viewers see nature differently.

“I hope that they start looking at nature more closely ... so maybe they’ll say ‘You know, I never noticed that.’ Painting in plein air, that’s what I do. I think this is one of the most important things I’ve ever done.”

Macpherson will make the following appearances:

Lecture: 1 to 3 p.m. May 16 at the center. $75 per person.

Middletown Symphony Orchestra concert, 8:15 p.m. May 16 at Dave Finkelman Auditorium, Miami University Middletown.

Painting demonstration: 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. May 17. $95 per person. Lecture plus demonstration package $150. For more information, call (513) 424-2417.

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2836 or erobinette@coxohio.com.