Thursday might at Vermillion Gallery, Jay Steensma and Ree Brown, partners in life, share a gallery space.
Steensma died in 1994 of heart disease. He was 53. Although he struggled with manic-depressive disorder for most of his life, it was under control for several years before his death, time he used to good effect. He painted solitude and weather, with small figures on barren gray plains, abandoned houses, ravaged trees. His grays were creamy, his whites begrimed and his blacks full of shadows. In the 1960s, he studied with Morris Graves, whose influence is detectable in his paintings of streaky birds and fish on brown paper bags.
Brown began painting to have something to do while Steensma was painting. He paints stark figures on blank grounds, usually cats but also lovely little ladies in frilly dresses. Brown will be at the opening.
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