The Show—“A LAST HURRAH”
June 9 – July 24, 2022
The Artist—Thomas Fehlner
After a career as professor of chemistry at the University of Notre Dame, I entered retirement in 2006 with the intention of exploring the world of art…an activity I enjoyed immensely in my youth. With no formal art training I have relied on books, personal interactions with local artists, frequent visits to the Art Institute of Chicago and simply drawing whenever and wherever I could…at home or abroad. Noteworthy are the Thursday mornings in Shirley RotiRoti’s studio and drawing from the model at the Buchanan Art Center and the Box Factory. My activities to date have ranged from drawing to painting to sculpture. A small exhibit of my progress over the years is shown in the center gallery.
A quick glance around the galleries will alert you to the fact that representations of people denominate but that landscapes are a substantial second. An educator my whole working life I’ve organized the exhibit so that the viewer can compare different artistic expressions of the same subject; for example, plein air vs studio painting or oil painting vs ink & watercolor drawing vs bas relief. You will find a few vignettes of famous artists’ work incorporated into larger works. Believing it is the end result that is most important; I work from life, from nature, from preliminary drawings and from my photographs. I have eschewed various “rules” that inhibit, e.g., transparent watercolors only, and followed my own muse as much as I was able to. I did much the same in my career in chemistry. Indeed the molecules my group investigated for many years take up classical polyhedral shapes and the faces of people on classical polyhedral in this show reflect this. ENJOY!