Story and Photos by Yvonne Wright • The Current Contributing Writer
Among the many satisfying pleasures that life has to offer, the sensory benefits of looking at art falls undeniably into a category attainable for most. And, when you combine visual stimuli of fine art paintings with a palpable sensation of exquisite wines… you get an enticing mix of the finer things in life happily served at the Big Creek Vineyard and Winery in Jim Thorpe. It is here, under the keen eye of its proprietor, Marissa Strohlein, that an ambitious project has begun to take shape – introducing an art gallery environment into an already well established downtown wine shop.
The recently held art exhibition The Faces of Jim Thorpe (February 15-17, 2020) featured works by New York City based figurative painter Kathy Vaillancourt and embodied the creative narrative the artist identifies as a living history of a local community, and reflects its collective memories contained in an assembly of twelve, shoulder-length, individual portraits of prominent Jim Thorpe residents; among them, a portrait of Chris Lukasevich the Carbon County Commissioner.
All executed in oil on canvas, Kathy’s artistic representations of the various persons were the consequence of a time consuming initiative involving months of intense work. The project grew out of the idea of inviting Jim Thorpe residents interested in having their likenesses depicted for personalized, 45 minute long interviews with the artist, supported by North Carolina based photographer Mark Abbott’s sensitively art directed on-site photography – also about 40 minutes long with each person. Set up at the Dimmick Memorial Library in 2019, these casual, preliminary sessions with the residents provided the artist with rich and valuable materials for the paintings, enabling Kathy to depict an objective, yet intimately observed glimpse at our communal experiences – Jim Thorpe’s living history, and also the town’s individual, personal imprints. Eventually, when a large number of selected photographs arrived at Kathy’s studio in NYC, the creative process began.
The increasing popularity of portraiture painting in recent decades seems to indicate our deeply rooted longing for immutable, everlasting existence, preserved in a work of art. It may also be a reflection of a consistently growing appreciation for figurative art, and our ability to acquire it. Residing in a picturesque town like Jim Thorpe may entice a person at whimsy to invest in fine art, and there are many reasons why people are compelled to commission a portrait.
In Vaillancourt’s oeuvre, we are instinctively drawn to the artist’s acute ability to capture the essence of the person portrayed. Executed in a traditionally realist manner, a style that reflects the artist’s formal academic training, the twelve portraits serve as means of preserving, and therefore, respecting the essential nature of individual lives, transformed by, and imprinted onto the fabric of our small but cherished Carbon County community.
The artist’s favorite Robert Ewashko Frontal View is a painting of great depth and poetic sensitivity, painted with broad brush-strokes and bold textural statements. When admiring its subtly interwoven network of impressionistic shades and hues that cascade downwards in a symphony of accords, this portrait brings to mind what Constable once remarked about Gainsborough’s art: “we find tears in our eyes and know not what brings them.” There is a primal energy concealed beneath the skin of the sitter, his zest for life. Robert’s spirited sense of personal freedom without hindrance is creatively expressed here with strands of long hair intertwined symbolically with his beard and clothing. This is a portrait of a mystic wizard and philosopher, whose powers are controlled by the sitter’s monastic-like inner peace and human kindness showing on his face.
Kathy Vaillancourt is an exceptional portraitist, whose love for figurative painting, combined with a love for America’s small towns and an era gone by, often takes her, and her trusted Cocker Spaniel co-pilot Will, on extended road tours throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. The artist’s background in sociology, as well as in fine art has equipped her with tools and the know-how to understand and document human frailties in the framework of historic continuity.
Vaillancourt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY; a Master of Social Work degree from Simmons College in Boston, MA; and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Vaillancourt also attended two prestigious art institutions: the New York Academy of Art and the Art Students League of New York, being tutored under successful contemporary artists like Robert Aretta, Allen Eagle and Michelle Doll (with whom which Kathy still continues her studies).
Her privileged technique is oil on canvas, while painters who much inspired her are: Rembrandt van Rijn, Joaquín Sorolla and Lucian Freud. Vaillancourt committed herself to full-time painting five years ago, upon her husband’s passing, and has been keeping busy ever since. As the granddaughter of a successful commercial artist, and daughter of a musically gifted father and an art loving mother, Kathy has a living history of her own – an artistic lineage, which nurtures her passion for art, gives her determination for self-discovery as an artist, and provides her with that unquenchable thirst for depicting human stories. We look forward with anticipation to her future projects. You may contact the artist here: www.kathyvaillancourt.com
Yvonne Wright is the owner of STUDIO YNW at 100 West Broadway in Jim Thorpe.
She can be reached at studio.ynw@gmail.com
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