NWC News Desk

Eye of the Beholder landscape exhibit opens Tuesday, Feb. 1 in SinClair Gallery

Posted January 25, 2011
By NWC News Desk

POWELL, Wyo. -  “Eye of the Beholder,” an exhibit of oils and pastels by nationally known landscape artist M. Katherine Hurley, opens Tuesday, Feb. 1, in Powell with a 7:30 p.m. artist’s reception in SinClair Gallery at Northwest College.

In addition to a gallery talk during the opening reception, Hurley will give a demonstration and workshop in watercolor and color design classes at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. in Room 4 of the Cabre Building. The public is welcome.

Hurley’s landscapes, whether done in oil or pastel, have a misty, dream-like quality that prompted Cincinnati art critic Daniel Brown to write, “M. Katherine Hurley’s landscape paintings and drawings are artworks with multiple purposes. They are first and foremost sanctuaries, places and spaces of rest, meditation, spiritual renewal and beauty… The less realistic her work is, the more we are dreamily drawn in and want to stay.”

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Brown places Hurley at the forefront of America’s contemporary landscape artists.

Hurley grew up in an area of rolling hills and horse farms, where she says barns became a sanctuary. Riding through the hills and valleys was a serene and soulful experience for her and the reason she is so passionate about landscape painting. She tries to portray this experience in her work and believes, "We all need to be surrounded by this kind of beauty and peace."

In her 30 plus years as a working artist, Hurley has garnered numerous awards. Her work has been exhibited in Europe and is represented in several premier galleries in the United States. It also hangs in several private and corporate collections across the country.

Hurley holds a bachelor's degree from the College of Mount. St. Joseph in Cincinnati, Ohio, and continued her studies at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.

"Eye of the Beholder" hangs in SinClair Gallery through March 4. Located in the Orendorff Building, the gallery is open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays.

Eye of the Beholder landscape exhibit opens Tuesday, Feb. 1 in SinClair Gallery