{"id":16913,"date":"2005-06-03T13:33:42","date_gmt":"2005-06-03T19:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=16913"},"modified":"2025-10-23T19:30:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T02:30:07","slug":"spring-salon-serves-up-substance-and-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/spring-salon-serves-up-substance-and-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring Salon Serves Up Substance and Style"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u00a0by William C. Seifrit<\/div>\n

Rich. Varied. Often exciting. Well presented.<\/p>\n

These descriptors come quickly to mind with an initial walk-through of the 2005 Springville Salon. Many familiar names are represented; some old favorites are not. Newer, less well-known artists are also shown, and I find their inclusion encouraging and personally satisfying.<\/p>\n

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Susan Gallacher, “Daybreak”<\/p><\/div>\n

Our editor has given me, of his own volition, carte blanche<\/i> for this review. (NOTE: I carefully avoided reading anything about the show prior to seeing it; I asked friends not to talk with me about it. Further, I paid no attention to the wall cards for each piece until after<\/span> I had strolled a couple of times through the entire exhibit. I\u2019ve not spoken to the director; I’ve no idea what guidance, if any, he offered the jurors; I just looked at what was presented.) Here’s what I thought.<\/p>\n

The overall quality of this year\u2019s Salon is excellent. There seems to be a rich mix of accepted works in the four groupings specified in the call for entries.<\/p>\n

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Kaziah Hancock, “The Waiter”<\/p><\/div>\n

I was quite favorably taken by images from artists whose work is familiar to me. Many seem to be pushing their talents, technical skills, and media in newer, different directions. Susan Gallacher’s<\/a> “Day Break”\u00a0is an example. She’s used a larger format, a different, brighter palette and so offers the viewer a fresh reading of a familiar subject. Kaziah Hancock’s<\/a>“The Waiter”\u00a0is another example. The composition, drawing, and brushwork are appealing. What’s changed with this image is that the passion and strength are still there; they are now stated quietly, confidently, rather than shouted. Several works by other artists show similar change and progress.<\/p>\n

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Colleen Howe, “Low Clouds, Sardine Canyon”<\/p><\/div>\n

Pastelists offered some larger, impressive images. Colleen Howe’s<\/a> “Low Clouds, Sardine Canyon”\u00a0is quite likely one of the best she’s created in her expanding career. Julie Rogers’<\/a> “Music of the Hands” is striking for its vivid color and detail. I had a minor niggle about the physical relationship between musician and instrument. I haven’t seen that many harp soloists or watched them carefully enough in chamber or orchestral ensembles to know for certain.<\/p>\n

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McGarren Flack, “A Fading Dream”<\/p><\/div>\n

I was surprised and pleased with the number of images showing carefully considered and realized detail. I mean honest realism, not a romantically sanitized or scrubbed variety, and not the often painstakingly crafted photorealistic images of recent years. D. McGarren Flack’s<\/a> “A Fading Dream” is one such. Others include Daniel Glen Dolberg’s “Span,” Maura K. Naughton’s “A Good Place to Rest,” and Christopher Shill’s “Railyard at Dusk.” Those all portray, in grittily accurate detail, manmade objects as they now appear after years of hard use or neglect. There is faded, scaled paint; there is physical marring and scarring; there is damage from hard use. These details are so welcome! There is life, and human history, in these objects. Some of these images could well become historical documents. It was a joy to see them!<\/p>\n

Other, more traditionally conceived and executed images drew the eye. Valoy Eaton’s<\/a> “Hitching Up”\u00a0reveals a master in full command of his skills. Royden Card’s “Sulfur Wash Goblin,”\u00a0Osral Allred’s “Gas Settling Bulb,” and Frank Huff’s “Pay Phones”\u00a0reveal dependable artists doing what they do best. It is possible, though, that Card’s red rock formation, in this instance, may have more humanoid musculature than his earlier efforts.<\/p>\n