Artist's reception (Meet & Greet) Oct. 3, 2008 from 5-8pm. The artist's work will be on display for the entire month of October.

In-Town Gallery presents the watercolor / gouache paintings of Maggie Vandewalle, whose collection of new work, “Minutiae: A Day in the Life of My Backyard” is a series that examines the easily overlooked miniature world in nature that is right at one’s feet. The exhibit, displayed on the front wall, runs through the month of October. Gallery visitors can meet the artist at a special reception on the first Friday, October 3, 2008, from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

The focal point of the show is a massive landscape filled with minute details. Smaller, more intimate images have been taken from this and elaborated upon to show what the artist has discovered just outside her home. “ I find myself fascinated by all the stuff that’s out there, things I don’t notice unless I take the time to sit still and watch. It is amazing how much life exists and thrives, even in well-used spaces such as my backyard,” the artist explains.

Raised in Iowa , Ms. Vandewalle received an art scholarship in 1981 to the University of Iowa where she pursued a BFA in printmaking. After school she turned to painting, in part due to the expense of printmaking equipment, yet also to fulfill a need for immediate results. “I discovered that, much as I loved working with copper and etching materials, the steps involved to create a finished piece were taking a toll on my impatient nature. Painting became my new ambition.”

The artist feels a deep compunction to fill every inch of the painted surface with color and detail, be it a realistic landscape or a more loosely interpreted cityscape. “I have a need to include as much as possible, to tell a story of sorts with detail and color. At one point it was my ambition to be a children’s book illustrator because of my love for artists like Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, and H. J. Ford. Their illustrations were alive with details that made the story being told that much richer. What I discovered as I got older was that I didn’t want to illustrate someone else’s story so much as to create my own within the context of a painting.”

Info via In-Town Gallery's Mary Whittle.