Watercolor and photography this month at East Colony

By Felicia Menard
HippoPress.com

East Colony Fine Arts features Karin Hovey's watercolors and SuNan Call's hand-colored photographs this month.

Hovey paints lush evergreens silhouetted against night skies using a dramatic palette of dark blues and Payne's gray. Most of her paintings are named after constellations and depict mountains, evergreen trees and starry night skies.

"When I create an image, I like to capture a part of my life in which I found peace and belonging. I hope people viewing my art work can feel a connection to a peaceful moment in their own lives," she said.

Hovey's skies are comprised of yellow closest to the horizon with a slight pink area further up the sky. "Lightning Storm" captures a lightning bolt striking the ground. As such, this is the most active sky. Foliage is windswept and the feeling of rain pelting the ground is palpable. Despite this intensity, the repetition of content-houses, slopes and evergreens-starts to feel formulaic.

Besides "Lightning Storm," the only skies that are painted differently in the series are "Orion" and "Orion II." In these paintings, one can perceive some diagonal motion rather than graduated washes in the sky. Meanwhile, in "Wildfire" and "Southern Cross," puddles of color powerfully charge across the sky. The sky is ablaze with orange, red and alizarin crimson. The effect is lovely and dramatic. Hovey is taking a risk here, which pays off. I would like to see more of these dynamic paintings as well as to see them in a larger format.

On the next wall, photographer SuNan Call's artist statement says she "uses hand-colored black and white photography to portray the simplicities and forgotten treasures in our daily life." OK, but Call's sharp method of delineating colors in most of her black and white images is too strong and overwhelms the image.

"Lady Slipper I" and "Lady Slipper II" are jarring. In "Lady Slipper II," the flower competes with a fallen tree branch in the background, which Call chose to hand color as well. Likewise, "Tiger Lily I" and "Tiger Lily II" would work better if they had no coloring at all. They embody all that is dead and lifeless with otherworldly stark shadows. The use of bright yellow cannot bring these images to life.

Call's touch works well when used softly in "The Awning" and "In the Window." "The Awning" shows a portion of a farmhouse with gingerbread trim. The background forest is painted in the ambiguous greens and reds of fall or early spring. "In the Window" is a pretty scene of a mannequin spied through a window. She is the only portion of the photograph that is hand-colored. "The Hoop" is a beautiful, well-composed little photograph of a soft brown barn with a red basketball hoop attached. The viewer expects the hoop to be red, but not without light and shadow. Call provides a slight surprise with her stark red addition.

Karin Hovey, watercolorist and SuNan Call, photographer, are featured at East Colony Fine Art, Langer Place, 55 Commercial St. Call 621-7400 for more information. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Friday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Felicia Menard can be reached at hippo@hippopress.com