Art Showings

in conjunction with Gallery on the Square

The Goodnight Memorial Library and Gallery on the Square have collaborated on a project that displays original artwork at the library on a regular basis. Each show lasts about three months and features unique paintings by regional artists. The fifth exhibit is now showing, and features sixteen works by Gallery On The Square Guild artist Bill Guffey.

Bill is a self-taught artist working mainly in oils with brushes and palette knives. Now living in his native Kentucky, with detours through Colorado, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Bill strives to bring life to his landscape and urban paintings. He tries to convey the feeling to the viewer that made him stop and paint what was before him.

Bill enjoys painting from life, either en plein air or in the studio, and works from photographs he has taken. Bill has also been experimenting with Google's Street View technology for a couple of years. Finding inspiration through his virtual travels, Bill has completed several series of works, has organized a virtual monthly paintout with artists from around the world, and continues to push past his comfort zone with more ideas and series in the works.

Bill's innovative use of Google Street View technology to travel the world virtually looking for that perfect painting destination has recently been the focus of many news stories. Hailed by Google for his inspiring use of their technology, Google Street View product manager Stephen Chau says, "Bill's use of Street View, to inspire his paintings and to create a virtual community of artists, is a remarkable example that we hadn't imagined but are really excited to see."

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

"Starting a new painting is a most enjoyable and exciting time. Most of my landscape paintings are started on location, which gives me a feeling of connection to nature; and observing the image taking shape on the blank canvas is still an amazing experience of which I feel I'll never tire. Painting in the sizzling heat of a Kentucky summer and the freezing temperatures of winter not only add to the enjoyment of the act itself but also to the character of the painting. My style leans toward a combination of impressionistic and representational, with the end result having a loose feeling, although the drawing and composition anchor the work into a solid form full of life, movement and color. Each painting session, whether on location or in the studio, brings an excitement and contentment that goes beyond description. That wonderful feeling that lives deep inside. And if a day passes without a brush being lifted, I feel guilty. Painting consumes me."

PRESS COVERAGE

For a more complete list of coverage of Bill and his artwork, please visit the Gallery on the Square's website.

COLLECTIONS

Bill's work can be found in Private Collections in the United States and Europe, as well as Corporate Collections in the U.S. and Great Britain. The Google Corporation has purchased multiple large format paintings for their United States and London offices.

If you are interested in purchasing any of the artworks now showing, please contact Gallery on the Square, 110 N. Main St., Franklin, KY 42134, (270) 586-8055, or visit Gallery on the Square to view more works by these artists. A special thanks goes out to Craig Clark of Sherlock Homes Inspection Services for voluntarily hanging the artwork.



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