Interplay: New Paintings by Jeri Ledbetter and Rebecca Crowell

Two abstract artists with very different approaches to painting share the spotlight at Thomas Deans Fine Art, 690 Miami Circle NE in Buckhead. Rebecca Crowell’s work has been described as rich, lustrous, and above all, meditative. Jeri Ledbetter’s has been described as projecting great energy, poetry, mystery, and charisma—“a masterful amalgam of sparseness and elegance,” in the words of one art writer.

Crowell creates her paintings with oil paint mixed with cold wax and applied to wooden panels with a variety of tools and techniques. They evolve over time through intuitive decisions about color, texture, and format.

Like Crowell, Ledbetter incorporates a variety of techniques in her work, including both drawing and painting, building and scraping. She considers her work intuitive, and it conveys, “a sense of spontaneity and ferocious energy balanced by serenity,” according to critic Fredric Koeppel. He also wrote, “Some of Ledbetter's drawn lines are quick, fierce and dynamic; others are languid and leisurely; all are intriguing and feel essential.” Ledbetter herself describes her intuitive process simply: “What I do is like digging for clams on the seashore. When it works and I hear the rattle of the shells in my bucket, I smile.”

Rebecca Crowell’s new paintings are the result of recent artist residencies in northern Sweden and the west coast of Ireland and, travels in Italy and New Mexico. Her experiences in these rugged and weathered environments influence the colors, intricate surfaces, and abstracted imagery in her work. John Seed in The Huffington Post has written, “She invites us to stand with her and take in the world and its transcendent beauties slowly. As an artist she does the hard work of finding the essences that surround us so that we can stand in front of them, transfixed.”

Crowell’s painting techniques reflect the layered and textural aspects of the textural and dramatic environments that she loves. She works with cold wax medium, oils, powdered pigments, charcoal, sand, graphite and other media to achieve complex, organic surfaces. Each painting is comprised of many layers, into which she scrapes, dissolves and excavates for what lies beneath.

Where: Thomas Deans Fine Art, 690 Miami Circle NE #905, Atlanta, GA 30324
When: Now through 2 April

Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday, 11-5

For more information call the gallery at 404 814-1811 or visit the web site, thomasdeansfineart.com