Article written by Cathy Ricketts with the Canadian Record:
"Daybreak" 11x17 pastel, amy winton, psa
A show featuring a collection of artwork by pastelist Amy Winton will open Saturday, May 5 at the Canadian River Art Gallery with a Cinco de Mayo celebration entitled “Encounters.”
“It is going to be a very festive event since it is on Cinco de Mayo,” says CRA owner Marie Bean. “Amy's work is very colorful so we thought this type of celebration for the show opening was very appropriate and would be so fun!”
Winton will have 50 originals on display as well as a selection of limited edition prints and books. “I am thrilled to show my work in such an impressive gallery with excellent space and lighting, and accomplished director and staff,” says Winton. “It will be exciting to see so many of my paintings in one show, where I can see where I have hiked, where I have picnicked and where I have painted off the road and path.”
In his foreword to Canyon Visions, Photographs and Pastels of the Texas Plains—a 1989 Winton collaboration with author Dan Flores—Larry McMurtry wrote, "Winton's pastels have captured the intimacy of the canyons and plains."
Kippra Hopper, in the chapter on Winton's pastels in the 2010 book Art of West Texas Women,wrote, "Her vistas and landmarks are inland scenes of the habitats of the Panhandle of West Texas surrounded by the raw and rugged beauty of wildflowers, grasslands, riverbeds, canyons and horizons."
From her studio on Sand Creek in Lipscomb County Winton teaches and shows her work in regional exhibitions. From 2002 to 2004, she operated the Winton Art Studio and Gallery in downtown Canadian, establishing a presence in the local arts community that has in turn brought into the area such artists as Albert Handell for workshops. Winton says she also has been influenced by Ben Konis and Ray Vinella and has an emphasis on color in her work.
‘It is the light that falls on an object or a scene that ignites color possibilities in my imagination,” says Winton. “Even on the most overcast day, the light is there and saturates the objects and their surroundings in a moist way. I actually see the creative color combinations I place on these objects. Some are exaggerated to enhance the mood or emphasize the focal point, but the color is there.”
The May 5th reception is sponsored in part by the Canadian Arts Alliance. “Encounters” will be on display through July 20. Canadian River Art is located at 312 Main Street in downtown Canadian.
For more information, call 806-255-3200 or log on to the website at www.canadianriverart.com.
