Artistic interpretations of the natural world
Claggett/Rey Gallery hosts artists John Taft and Peregrine O鈥橤ormley
Courtesy image
An artists’ reception of Peregrine O’Gormley and John Taft will take place in the Claggett/Rey Gallery in Edwards Riverwalk on Thursday from 5-8 p.m.
“We are showing these great artists together due to their modern way of seeing and depicting the natural world,” explains gallery partner Bill Rey. “Their work seems to feed off of and complement each other, John being a painter and Peregrine a sculptor and carver.”
Though both artists have well established styles, they’ve each got new works for the season. Taft began his professional life as a successful designer and art director in New York City. His periodic escapes from the city into the beautiful surrounding landscapes eventually inspired him to move to Colorado and pursue a career in fine art. For the past 20 years, his landscapes have garnered great demand and respect.
“John’s new body of work incorporate a little more layering and texture with modern frames,” explains Rey. “The way John sees and composes the Rocky Mountain region have a feeling we all know 鈥� but a very different interpretation. They just feel right and honor today’s lean toward a different view of the land.”
One of his paintings, “Dry Weather Road,” received the Spirit of the Bighorns award at the Bighorn Rendezvous exhibit and sale at The Brinton Museum in Big Horn, Wyoming. The award is given to artists whose work best captures the spirit of the Bighorn region.
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Though O’Gormley grew up in the Southwest, he lives and works overlooking the Puget Sound in Washington. He’s fairly new to Claggett/Rey Gallery, but already fits in well with the gallery’s owners, who count as friends many of the artists they represent. A sculptor and carver, O’Gormley makes a point of beginning his artistic process with dead and down material.
“Typically he carves in wood and or stone and then will make a mold of that original and cast it in bronze,” Rey says. “His new work is always different. He gives a very different eye-catching appeal to the wild critters out there. Some are birds in flight, suspended from the wall and others wake you up to question what you are seeing.”
Case in point, a walrus skull with one tusk titled, “Fragment.”
Find the artists at the gallery Thursday evening.
