Grand Impromptu prompts visit around the corner

Photo Courtesy of artist

HONEYMOON IN VENICE. Trinda Love’s paintings offer much for the viewer. Using the impasto technique she lays the paint on thickly like cake icing, and with a palette knife she pushes, swirls, blends and shapes the pigment into images that, once dry, result in a bumpy terrain for the eye.

With a name like the Grand Impromptu Gallery, upon entering the space one might expect to be bombarded with an over-the-top hodgepodge of disjointed stories being told in disconnected mediums. Thankfully this is not the case, and visitors are greeted with a succinct collection of various forms of aesthetically pleasing pieces.

The newest addition to the Grand Impromptu Gallery for the month of October is “Around the Corner,” which features the work of artist and curator Trinda Love, in addition to showcasing the art of her fellow co-operative members Betty Ragan, Dorothy McCuistion, Leann Seaburg Perry, Becky Frehse, Billy Colby, Peter Serko, Bea Geller and a new addition hailing from Olympia, Faith Hagenhofer. The pieces take form in paintings, photographs, drawings, prints, mixed media, fiber art and sculpture.

Love utilizes impasto (knife-painted oil pieces) framed on a mid- to large-scale on canvas and canvas board – a medium that abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning and post-impressionist Vincent van Gogh also used. This technique for Love transforms personal photographs of both European cities and downtown Tacoma streets, collecting their similarities in paint strokes into grand works.

 “Around the Corner” implies that humans are, for the most part, unaware of what is in store for their lives. “(It is) a metaphor that signifies a change in what life brings,” according to Love’s artist statement. It is simultaneously beckoning to commemorate the exciting, surprising, frightening, and that which makes people grow. The theme implores that individuals celebrate and welcome nostalgic feelings.

Love’s piece entitled “When You Come to the Fork in the Road, Take It?” illustrates nature compounded by suburban living; a neighborhood street afternoon in which the road diverges: take the road to the quiet, hidden mountains or head in the direction of tract homes and power lines? The colors utilized here are critical – purples and pinks in the streets denote movement and speed on a carless road, while a yellow sky with purple tinged clouds signifies a pollution-filled sunset. Everything is set together within a complementary purple painted wooden frame. Tree stumps line the streets, symbols of what once was and what has since taken over.

In the spirit of remembering the exciting and the foreign, “Grand Canal Palazzo” depicts Venetian gothic-style architecture that is recreated with great skill and a steady hand. The scene of the white arched building in the fore overlooking a canal pales greatly compared to the turquoise sky shaping the view. Lush greenery surrounds, and the shadows in building windows indicate the afternoon beckoning. Here again, Love’s attention to detail and intricate impasto style create contrast, texture and light to a complex photographic scene. The colors melded together instill an impression of warmth to their landscapes, stirring the senses and emotions along with the tones.

“Around the Corner” is exhibiting now through Oct. 31. Grand Impromptu Gallery is located at 608 Fawcett St. in Tacoma. Normal operating hours are Thursdays and Fridays 4-9 p.m., Saturdays 2-9 p.m. and Sundays 2-6 p.m. Special open hours have been added to allow additional access to the artwork, Oct. 10 from noon-4 p.m.

For more information, visit the gallery’s website or contact Love at (253) 539-1551 or e-mail her at .

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