Artbeat

State's past is Deering's focus

Home by First Light by John Deering
Home by First Light by John Deering

History is a subject John Deering returns to again and again to inspire his paintings and sculpture.

Deering, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's editorial cartoonist and a successful artist, also is known for whimsical and fantasy pieces that bring rabbits, bears and other creatures into works of magical realism. He also created the sculptures of the Little Rock Nine displayed on the grounds of the state Capitol.

“In Arkansas Territory”

New Paintings by John Deering

Friday-Dec. 24, Cantrell Gallery, 8206 Cantrell Road, Little Rock

Reception: 6-8 p.m. Friday

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday

(501) 224-1335

cantrellgallery.com

At his 2014 exhibit at Cantrell Gallery, he surprised viewers with a show focused on a kind of romantic realism, with scenes of everyday life painted from photographs he took.

But for his new exhibit, "In Arkansas Territory," Deering has 21 works inspired by Arkansas history. The show opens with a reception at 6 p.m. Friday at Cantrell Gallery and will hang through Dec. 24.

"History is always a challenge; it combines several styles of painting -- figure, landscape, wildlife and still life," Deering says. "It makes you stretch."

Adding to the challenge is the research necessary to depict the past.

"The figure in the landscape requires a lot of details ... clothing has to be researched. I look at historic pictures to get an idea of what the landscape was like. But sometimes, you have to take a leap ... what was wildlife like 200 years ago?

"History tells us, for example, that the Arkansas Legislature in 1837 had quite a fight over paying bounties on wolf pelts. That tells me wolves were encroaching on cities and towns." (A brawl in the Legislature left state Rep. Maj. Joseph J. Anthony of Randolph County dead at the hands of the speaker of the House, Col. John Wilson of Clark County, according to the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas.)

"The central painting in the show is Arkansas Traveler, which I've wanted to paint for some time," Deering says. He also depicts the French explorer Jean-Baptiste Benard de La Harpe on the Arkansas River and U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves, who in 1875 became one of the first black federal lawmen west of the Mississippi River.

A few works are atmospheric, Deering says. Nightwatch shows a woman holding a lantern looking out the door of a cabin.

There will be at least one sculpture, a bust of a Cherokee Indian, among the oil and acrylic paintings.

Weekend on 11/05/2015

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