Artist likes to make good impressions
By Shari Kaplan
Although it began in the mid-19th century in the art salons of France, Impressionism is still alive and well--especially in the Los Gatos Town Council chambers.
The colorful genre brought to light by French painters like Monet, Manet, Renoir and Pissarro is also the favorite of 21st-century artist Steve Wise, whose oil paintings hang in the chambers through Aug. 24. The show is part of Art in the Council Chambers, a project by the Los Gatos Arts Commission that features new exhibits every one to three months.
A longtime art teacher in San Jose Unified School District schools who just retired, Wise holds a bachelor's and master's degree in art, is a member of the Los Gatos Art Association and has had many Bay Area shows over the years.
Wise says he has always loved art and credits his mother with encouraging his creativity by taking him to art galleries during his Virginia childhood, including to many in nearby Washington, D.C. She also bought him a drawing board, paints and sculpting clay, and gave him his own creative space.
"I had a little studio under the stairs in the basement," Wise recalls. In his current San Jose home, he adds with a chuckle, he takes creative space wherever he can get it--garage, back porch or library--depending on where his wife is not.
When Wise first began studying art, he was drawn to Impressionism, with its emphasis on light, broken colors and small strokes that simulate reflected light and create distinctive visual impressions--often of scenes from nature and the outdoors. He later moved to abstract art for a time, especially during the 1960s, but eventually got tired of people asking, "What is that?!"
Wise has since returned to his first love, which he also recommends beginning art students try out.
"Impressionism is probably the most popular artistic style. It lends itself to amateurs very well; it's very available to the aspiring artist who wants to express himself or herself," he explains.
"It possesses beauty, innocence and simplicity. My goal as an artist is to continue in the tradition of the Impressionists and capture new interpretations of the beautiful American landscape," he says, adding that he finds California a "gold mine" for his favorite genre.
Some of those nuggets, painted between 1987 and 2001, are up in the council chambers. Among them are several Bay Area-inspired images, including Twilight in a Morgan Hill Orchard, Shibler's Garden in Saratoga and Crop Field and Beach near Davenport. Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe, San Juan Bautista, Carmel, Santa Barbara and Hawaii are also represented, as are the famous Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, Canada.
Wise says he begins his pieces on-site, drawing or painting sketches and etudes, or studies. Sometimes he takes photographs as well. Back in the studio, he immortalizes the images on canvas, working not only from the tangible reminders he brings back, but also from what he calls a "visual, sensory kind of memory."
The public is invited to an artist's reception, with refreshments, on July 20 at 6 p.m. in the town council chambers, downstairs in the civic center at 110 E. Main St. Art is available for viewing weekdays fr.om 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., provided the chambers are not in use. If the doors are locked, inquire at the adjacent planning department.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
