Fountain Street Fine Art to showcase Wellesley artist Roy Perkinson

September 9, 2015

Roy Perkinson, The Summit at Dusk, oil on canvas, 36 x 96

Fountain Street Fine Art, 59 Fountain St., Framingham, will present Poetry of Light: Recent Paintings in oil, pastel and watercolor by Roy Perkinson from Sept. 10 through Oct. 4. There will be a reception on Saturday, Sept. 12, from 5 to 7 p.m. and an artist talk and demo on Sunday, Sept. 27, at 2 p.m.

“Poetry of Light” showcases recent landscape paintings in oil, pastel and watercolor by Roy Perkinson. Many of the paintings capture aspects of Acadia National Park in Maine, and in particular Cadillac Mountain. Perkinson’s work is characterized by sensitivity to the way light can reveal not only the particulars of place but also the mood of place. The artist says that he strives “to express a vision of landscape that is realized through the poetic qualities of light.” From intimate glimpses of surf along the rugged Maine shore to a broad, panoramic vista from the summit of Cadillac Mountain, his paintings often evoke the feeling of surprise and discovery of moments of sheer beauty.

Roy Perkinson, Rocks at Schoodic, oil on canvas, 18 x 24

Asked about the title of his show, he said, “I often think about the analogy between poetry and painting, and music as well. In poetry, finding just the right word – the authentic, expressive word – is a key concern. Similarly, in painting I need to find just the right color and the most appropriate, expressive stroke for applying that color. Also, words in a poem always exist in a context of feeling and meaning. The same is true for painting: no stroke of color exists in a vacuum – every bit of paint is affected by its context and, in turn, has an effect on everything else. When I walk into the studio in the morning and see a painting with fresh eyes, that’s when I’m able to spot that particular part that doesn’t work, that needs to be ‘edited’ or adjusted.”

Perkinson attributes his special feeling for light and space to having been brought up in Texas, in a land where the sky and the light permeate one’s experience of the world, and where the tremendous variety of weather is a source of never-ending fascination. As a child, he also reveled in performing magic tricks for friends and family and explains that he often feels as if he is still trying to create something magical in his paintings. He is considered unusual in that he is adept at working in three media: oil, pastel and watercolor. “Each medium,” he observes, “has its own special expressive qualities, and sometimes I like to recreate a previous oil painting in watercolor, simply to discover how the latter changes the outcome of the painting. Sometimes a pastel painting becomes a new painting in watercolor, and eventually winds up being recast in oil – it’s always a thrill to discover what each medium can do.”

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