Love & Other Things Opening Reception

Love & Other Things Opening Reception

Norsworthy Gallery presents “Love & Other Things”, an art collective of E.D. Stewart – Art In Highland.

Reception Saturday, January 7, 2017
5:00 – 7:00 PM
Libations and Hors d’oeuvres
214 Texas Street
Downtown Shreveport

Artist Statement:

“Love and other things… After 10 years of being out of the ‘art scene’ in a visible way, it was a quite a conundrum, coming up with a title for my first art exhibit in over a decade. I settled on this title because the subject matters that I like to portray are things that appear seemingly romantic, if not decidedly so: things that portray love, things that I love, things that other people love. I feel that love is the determining solution to most of life’s problems, so much so that my final paper in college for the Studio Art portion of my degree was about just that: love and its place in art and our lives, how love or the lack thereof can affect us for the better or for the worse and how that effect can inspire some of the greatest contributions to our society.

This ‘collective’ spans quite more than a decade of my art. It spans nearly my entire life (early teens to now) I felt it was necessary as a reintroduction for myself in a new market [the last time I had a gallery exhibit was in another state all together!] and to display the broad media spectrum in which I tend to work: from oil painting to charcoal to digital photography to multi-media to beadwork and jewelry.

My earliest influences came from two TV hosts, of all people: Mark Kistler (The Secret City) and the unforgettable Bob Ross (The Joy of Painting). High school brought on an obsession with Japanese animation and the art of manga. Later, in college, I drew inspiration from noveau and symbolist painter Gustav Klimt, modern Renaissance painter, David Stoupakis, along with my art mentor and professor at the time, Larry Thompson, from whom I adopted the technique of mat board lettering. While I still carry these past influences with me, my current tastes are now guided closer to home, including local artists such as Ben Moss, Amanda Roe, Jen Driskill, Caitlyn Rose, Jason Pliler, Tracy McComic, Heather Evans and many others.

One of my preferred subjects is portraiture. This is obviously evident in the number of portraits displayed, both of real subjects and fantasy. The eyes always get me. It is my favorite detail of the human face. The eyes communicate so many different emotions, and to capture them on paper, to me, encapsulates that emotion in time. For example, the inspiring photograph for ‘Wish For Freedom’ was taken post 9/11, and it just grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. I had to capture that emotion for myself, to share with others, to spark empathy.

If something speaks to me, if it touches my soul, even if others consider it frivolous or fleeting, I feel I must share it. I must share the love and the other things that I hold dear. May something in this exhibit speak to you, maybe not in the same way it speaks to me, but hopefully at the same volume.”