Note: Victory Schouten said it was OK to run this press release to celebrate artist Brian Mahieu’s debut exhibition at the Rob Schouten Gallery June 1-26 in Langley. Brian channels the powerful feeling of the Olympic Peninsula through his art. –Kate
Explorations of the North Olympic Coast and the Hoh Rainforest are the subject of Brian Mahieu’s debut exhibition at the gallery. While working for many years as a plein-air painter, Mahieu has now added studio work to his repertoire. Working in bold, assertive strokes and intense color Brian views his paintings as the esthetic records of a moment in time and place.
Mahieu states “Nature is my studio. My paintings are not merely pictures, they are visual poems about what I was experiencing. Color and expressive brushwork communicate mood, and the paint surface is a landscape of its own. For over three decades I have signed my plein-air paintings with the date and time of completion in the field. This past year I’ve been working very hard—I’m stretching and growing as an artist, transitioning from working exclusively plein-air to painting in a studio.”
The resulting exhibition consists of eleven vibrant new studio paintings and a number of plein-air works.
Brian Mahieu grew up in the Midwest and received a BFA from Columbia College, MO in 1989. He relocated to Whidbey Island in 2016.
View Brian’s art in person at Rob Schouten Gallery June 1-26. An open reception with Brian Mahieu is Saturday, June 3 from 5-7PM. The gallery is located at the corner of Anthes Avenue and First Street, 101 Anthes Ave., Langley.