The Art Association of Jacksonville hosts India ink paintings, jewelry
By Kelly M. Gross
Director, The David Strain Art Gallery
The Art Association of Jacksonville is pleased to present Pen Brady, with acrylic paint/India Ink paintings and Meghan Tippy Reese with hand fabricated geometry and art deco jewelry May 4-26 at The David Strawn Art Gallery. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 4 from 6-8 p.m. with introduction of artists at 6:30 p.m. The gallery opening and gallery hours are free and open to the public.
Meghan Tippy Reese received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Southern Illinois University Carbondale, graduating summa cum laude in 2000, and took numerous workshops at Penland School of Crafts during her college years. She experienced a variety of jewelry industry jobs before opening her own studio in 2010, and is currently a full-time practicing studio metalsmith and jewelry instructor.
Reese finds joy in the process of fabrication and makes detailed, often kinetic work that constantly pushes the limits of her skills. She has been the recipient of numerous competition and art fair awards, and recognized as a Golden Palette Outstanding Instructor at the Springfield Art Association in 2021. Reese has been teaching jewelry and metals at the SAA since 2002, and feels it is important for knowledge of traditional craft processes to persist in an age of increasing technological capabilities.
Reese finds inspiration and influence in simple mechanical processes, Asian and cathedral architecture styles, crop circles, sacred geometry, Art Deco and Art Nouveau. She rarely completes a detailed sketch of a piece before beginning work on it however she may sketch out a simple element or a cross-sectional representation to understand functional needs better. A fair amount of her process is an ongoing experiment, revising her original idea with each new element. She particularly enjoys working with repetitive elements, creating several individual units and physically playing with their placement to generate new ideas.
Pen Brady was born the youngest of five children in a small farm house in mid-Missouri. Her mom and dad shared a great love for the outdoors and their influence played a huge role in her love and respect for the flora, and fauna of our earth. These values easily merged with the direction of her art.
Brady studied art at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri. She married Padraic Brady, and they worked together in graphic design while raising their daughters. They moved to southern Missouri in 1996 where Pen Brady began working at Chase Studios, fabricating natural history exhibits for museums worldwide.
Brady honed her attention to detail by creating botanical and vertebrate models. This work not only furthered her knowledge of the natural world but helped her develop patience and focus on small details. It was during this time, using linear and spatial components, that her distinctive style began to emerge.
Brady’s vision of the natural world comes to fruition in her acrylic and India ink paintings. Her work is an assemblage of intricate lines, color, and form reflecting nature through her eyes. The goal of each painting is to convey the uniqueness and beauty of her subjects — none being too humble or too grand. Capturing the grace, attitude or nuances of each allows the viewer to experience a new awareness of the world of nature.
Gallery hours May 5-26 are Sundays from 1-3 p.m. and Tuesday-Saturday from 4-6 p.m.
