Plein & Simple

Dan Dahlkemper

at Glass Growers Gallery

An Art Review

It’s safe to call Dan Dahlkemper a “plein-air” artist. 

And that’s certainly a compliment.

After all, how better to capture tree lines, groves, sunsets and streams upon canvas than by experiencing them out in nature?

As such, every one of his approximately 25 acrylic paintings currently at Erie’s Glass Growers Gallery (barring a small self portrait), showcases nature’s silent beauty.

“Confetti Sunset” portrays a departing sun over a body of water. With a zigzag of yellow hovering in the sky, reflected in the water are horizontal dashes and splashes of color from the receding sun, the darkening sky and the water itself: hues of yellow, pink, and blue and purple to illustrate one moment now lost in time.

“Winter Wonder” (see image above) is a partial pointillism exercise, using small dots of paint to create an interesting image. Beyond a floral-carpeted meadow with trees and sparse leaves, Dahlkemper creates the illusion of a sun’s reflection in the sky above and water below by dotting the canvas with yellow and several blue pigments portraying a partly cloudy day with a rising (or setting?) sun at the canvases’ center.

“Betula Life” shows a spring or fall scene of birch trees among green pine trees and surrounding brown underbrush. Though not visually intriguing, it demonstrates the artist’s love of paint—as thick gobs of white paint constitute the bark of the birch trees. 

Though rarely do people appear in Dahlkemper’s art, they’re not his focus—just objects within his life of vision while capturing the larger scene—nature—with his brush.

“Fresh Cascade” is a far-off scene of two groups with children and adults wading in a stream in a wooded alcove. “End of the Line/Going to Seed”  is a distant scene of a single person sitting underneath the porch of a solitary cabin adorned with flowers crawling up the shack and around their property.

While Dahlkemper may or may not describe himself as a plein-air artist, his acrylic creations on display at Glass Growers Gallery are anything but “plain.”

END

***Patrick McComb

Dan Dahlkemper’s exhibit continues through September 21. For more information https://glassgrowersgallery.com