Jackson artists Shannon Troxler and Kay Stratman open their joint show Resonance at Trio Fine Art, with an artists’ reception on Thursday, September 9, 5-8:00 pm. Troxler and Stratman will host a conversation from 6:30-7:00 pm. On display September 7, the show runs through September 19, 2010.
“Resonance” refers to the ability to evoke or suggest images, memories and emotions. Travel, exotic world destinations, equally exotic birds and animals and sensitive interpretations of the natural world comprise this show. Both artists are painters; Stratman works in the sumi-e style of watercolor painting, while Troxler uses a variety of painting mediums. Some of her paintings combine oils on silver or gold leaf on board; these works lend an Asian sensibility to Troxler’s work. She plans to include a completed gold leaf screen in this 
exhibition.
While Troxler’s work is often big, bold, splashed with color, gilded, and rich—Stratman’s style is minimalist, a haiku. Stratman’s employing sumi-e links the two artists, and the show has a unified theme inspired by ancient Japanese painting traditions.
Trio Fine Art’s Fall Arts Festival calendar also includes artist demonstrations during September 10th’s Palates and Palettes gallery walk, and on September 12 & 14. Yum, a FAF “farewell” brunch Sept. 19, 11a – 3p. ….Special gallery hours are in effect during the residence of Resonance; check the gallery for details. 307.734.4444.
Websites I visited that were alternately up and running or works in progress at this writing are: www.triofineart.com, www.shannontroxler.net and www.kaystratman.com.
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Robert Coombs is Legacy Gallery’s artist in the spotlight this Fall Arts Festival. September 11-20, immerse yourself in the concept of the Romantic West — Coombs, a Utah native, is noted for his tender,
figurative paintings of women and children. If you wish, you could say this Western artist has taken a path less traveled by embracing the warmth and humanity that women and children must often provide when life in the West becomes a tad hard bitten. Coombs paints portraits of the women and children of today’s West, as well as those whose lives are now part of a rich pioneering history.
Coombs says that a life altering event occurred when he viewed the original works of Edwin Austin Abbey’s Shakespearean subjects on display at the Museum of Art at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. “For the first time in my life I could actually feel the emotional impact and power that painting could impart. I decided to seek after those attributes in my own work.” Expect to view at least eight new works.
An artist’s reception takes place September 11, 1-4:00 pm.
Legacy will follow the Coombs showcase with its annual “Legacy of Nature” Group Show and Sale, opening September 17; a reception takes place that day from 1-4:00 pm. Wildlife is the theme, and this exhibition includes works by these noted artists: Ken Bunn, Ken Carlson, Julie T. Chapman, Michael Coleman, Luke Frazier, Brian Grimm, Carol Hagan, Krystii Melaine, Eugene Morelli, Chad Poppleton, Tim Shinabarger, George D. Smith, Trevor Swanson, and Brett Smith.
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The Art Association continues its relatively new embrace of plein air painting with its exhibition On Location with the Plein Air Painters of America, on display now through September 6, 2010. Fifty paintings will be on exhibition and for sale. An opening reception takes place September 3, 5:30 pm.
As the Fall Arts Festival connotes romance, so does the Plein Air Painters of America (PAPA) history. The group was founded in California, inspired by the California Impressionists. Color, light and quality of work are the organization’s hallmarks.
From their website: “In 1982 Ruth Westphal published the resource book Plein-Air Painters of California The Southland, followed four years later by The Northland. Major collections were being built, and prices for historic paintings were rising. Burns, who was president of the Catalina Art Association at the time, felt the moment had arrived to educate collectors about contemporary artists pursuing the art of painting from life.”
Craig Spankie, a long time Art Association contributing artist, opens his show Export Quality on Friday, September 10, at 5:30 p.m.
“I try to limit my involvement with the materials as much as possible – not destroy the unique nature of something, but create simplicity by combining color, texture and space,” says New 
Zealander Spankie. The artist works with raw materials, and quite a bit of lugging and tugging went into shaping this particular show. Two years in the making, Spankie says that this collection has been put together in Jackson and New Zealand. A large quantity of work was too large to reasonably transport between the two locations, so Spankie downsized.
The work ended up being “small enough to fit into his checked baggage, that required a maximum weight of 46kg. Spankie “emptied years of collected contents from his shed onto an animal grazed front paddock to create most of Export Quality. Work was proudly created in New Zealand with unique and unsophisticated materials, giving a raw, real sense to the viewer.”
The Art Association notes that due to a special event, this exhibit will not be available to view Sept. 13-16.
Also coming up at the Art Association: Chuck Close.
Tammy Christel 
