By Shari Kaplan
Following several ethereal and abstract installations, the current Art in the Council Chambers exhibit--titled Go Figure--features oil-on-canvas paintings in the traditional format of facial and full-body portraits.
Neither of the artists, Patrick McDonough of Menlo Park and John Meeker of Gilroy, are professional artists by trade. They took up painting on the side because they enjoy it.
"I've always loved music and literature and art. I can switch back and forth between art and numbers pretty well," says McDonough, who holds a chemical engineering degree and an MBA.
McDonough is a financial consultant for technology companies and has dabbled in drawing, sketching and painting for about 20 years. Several years ago, he began taking classes at the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto to explore and expand his craft.
"The appeal of oil painting is that it's a medium that's been used for 500 to 600 years, by all the great artists," he says. Among his favorite painters is Frans Hals, one of the Dutch masters of the Renaissance.
"My style is not deliberately impressionistic, but the paintings are certainly an impression rather than a detailed rendering of what I'm seeing. I'd rather paint more loosely," he adds.
The individuals McDonough portrays are all professional models, and each appears in more than one painting. For example, in "Russ I" and "Russ II," the stately, gray-haired subject is depicted first as a bust and second as a full figure. Both paintings show dappled, colorful paint streaks and strokes reminiscent of Impressionist style. In the latter, Russ is nude but has his leg thoughtfully crossed.
"Many of my models are artists themselves, so we get into conversations. If they like what you've done, they'll tell you. It's always constructive," McDonough says.
Meeker, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in English, has taught English at Gilroy High School and Gavilan College for many years. He currently teaches photography. Meeker says he took up painting because it was on his list of special things he wanted to accomplish in life, including cruising the Amazon River and mastering the French language.
He may not have French down, but after studying at the Pacific Art League--through which he and McDonough are acquainted--Meeker is on his way to mastering painting.
"I wanted to concentrate on one medium, and oil is very forgiving. You can just go and paint over it," he explains. His style is closest to realism, he says, because he feels most comfortable showing the details and fine lines and shapes of what he is painting.
"I'd like to become more accomplished, to feel freer and be more impressionistic. I'd like to loosen up my brush stroke," he says.
Realistic portrayals work just fine for Meeker's subject matter, which in all cases are busts or full-figure portraits, save for one quaint still life of two wine bottles in straw baskets, a tangerine and a lemon. The models in his other paintings are all friends or students except for a tastefully done nude, for which a professional model posed.
"I always feel strongly about the people I paint. I've never painted someone I don't like. There's a kind of intimacy that happens when one paints another person, or even a rose or a tangerine," he says.
Go Figure runs through Oct. 31 in the Town Council Chambers, located downstairs in the Civic Center, 110 E. Main St. If the chambers are locked, inquire at the Town Clerk's Office or the Planning Office.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, October 16, 1996.
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