VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Gordon Phillipson and Valentina Atkinson find the inspiration to create art in even the subtle moments of their everyday lives. Their exhibit Pears and Planes celebrates the objects that most often appear in their paintings. The show opens with a reception from 6:30 p.m until 9:00 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9 and will run through January 3rd, 2012 at Canal Street Gallery, located at 2219 Canal Street.

“My art is a reflection of my desire to express an appreciation for those experiences which moved me, which startled me, which excited me,” Phillipson explained.

For Phillipson, an airplane can represent childhood wonder and a sense of adventure. Atkinson can see a simple still life as an expression of time. In the curved lines of a pear, for example, she finds the essence of femininity and a symbol of motherhood. Both artists work in watercolors and have studied under Arthur Turner, an instructor at the Glassell Studio School. They also work alongside each other at Canal Street Gallery, where Atkinson is the director and Phillipson is a curator.

Phillipson has studied art and painted since he retired about 10 years ago, following a career in Exploration and Production with Shell, and as an executive with IBM. He attributes his ability to capture structure and detail in his paintings, as well as the discipline required to use watercolors, to his background in engineering.

His new series of planes reflects an even greater attention to detail than his previous works. “They’re as exact as I can make them,” he said. Phillipson enjoys painting many subjects, but airplanes are his favorite. “It’s a craze, really, my passion for airplanes,” Phillipson explains. “It’s the beauty of the airplane, the color, the tautness of the beaten metal and canvas skin, the perfection of the machine. It’s the ability to fly.”

Atkinson feels that passion is an essential aspect of painting. “The core of painting is to identify and translate an emotion,” she said. Her interest in painting came after the birth of her second child in 1985. Prior to that she worked as an industrial designer.

Atkinson has collaborated with the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Glassell School, and the Art League of Houston. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including PanAmerican University, the House of Culture Delegation Benito Juarez, Gallery Group Santorini,, Gallery Aztecs, Club San Angel, Mexico de Consulate General in Houston, Bunker Hill City Hall, the Hall of Watercolor, the Museo del Carmen and the Gallery of the Society of Watercolor in Houston.

With different backgrounds, themes and styles, the artists are united in their search for true creativity, for exploring what truly inspires them. They also share a passion for watercolor.

“What you can do with watercolor, you can’t do with any other media,” Atkinson said. “It’s fresh, and it’s spontaneous.”