Category: Press

June 15, 2016 – Elizabeth Moss Galleries

This week our focus artist is Laura Waller. Laura is currently on exhibit here at the gallery with her solo show “Working Port” which will be on display until July 30th. Laura divides her time between Maine and Florida where she paints full time. We recently gave her a list of interview questions and she graciously took the time to thoughtfully answer them which gives us a chance to understand her process better as well as gives us an exclusive look into her work. Enjoy!

Can you tell us about your interest in Florida-based tugboats? 

I tend to “anthropomorphize” my subjects. I see the bones in my ships and see the muscles in the tugs. Rhea I Bouchard No.1 almost has an exoskeleton wrapping around her side while the Sheila Moran is puffed up with muscular rubber draped in rows across her bow. OIG Giant II No. 5 presents a classic view through the ship to the strong bones that hold her decks together.

On my first trip into the Port where I toured in a golf cart with a security guard , we talked of the taut stretching of the lines that secure the ships to the dock. He told me of the near disaster when a large freighter’s lines snapped during a howling wind storm that went through the harbor. The ship began to swing to the other side of the channel where it would have wrecked havoc. Not to worry for a small tug rushed over and pushed the behemoth back to its sea wall. Pure and simple strength in a small form.

Tugs link my Maine home to my Tampa home. I went out on the Patriot tug in Port Tampa Bay – built in East Boothbay by Washburn and Doughty, a shipyard I have visited. I have painted the Capt. MacIntire No. 1 which is up in dry dock in Belfast Maine.

Your tugboat pieces started out as more detailed and realistic but has progressed toward close-up views verging on abstract. Will abstraction continue to take over your interest, or will we see you go back and forth from abstraction to representational?

Probably go back and forth between the two even though the representational pieces, if you look at segments of them, are abstract.

While you are here in Maine for the summer, what will you paint if anything?

Just finished a smaller canvas (20×24 inches) as I had some left over. The size of the ships almost demands a larger canvas so these smaller canvases portray closer up details of the larger ships. I just purchased two 5×7 feet linen canvases to paint. That is about the maximum a 5’x3” person can reach to paint. I’ll probably continue painting what I’d like others to see – the absolute beauty of the patterns created by weathered surfaces and rusty drips in the port.

What is your studio practice? Photos on site, and then all work in the studio, or sketches and photos on site?

I take many photos either on land if accompanied by a security guard or from my son’s powerboat going through the channels. There is not an opportunity to paint plain air because of Homeland Security. I print the chosen photos out at 8″x10” to paint from. Sometimes I project the image onto the canvas to get the initial drawing accurate. I tone my canvases with raw Sienna to give a harmonious luminescence to the work. I paint with water-mixable oils sometimes accenting with oil bars.

Do you have any favorite pieces that are in your current show?

Hard to say as each is a part of me.

C-Enforcer No. 2 demonstrates the concept of Wabi-Sabi in my work. I hope it shows the beauty in the humble, the common, the unfinished. I find joy in the elegance of the lines (meaning the ropes) and the lovely shadows they create; the simple shape of the superstructure; the reflected glow of the light in the port.

K. Brave No.1: The Rudder, was originally this was called an anchor. My wonderful Naval scientist friend explained that it is a rudder. While I was painting I became more and more disturbed by the process as it seemed to not fit with the others in the series – different colors, temperature, clarity, etc. It felt uncomfortable. With help from a friend, I realized that something may be naturally occurring – perhaps a morphing into something else. A transitioning. Just go with it. It seems to stand alone to me.

Who are your favorite artists and did they inspire your eye in this series?

I learned oil painting from Tina Ingraham of Bath, a master of color mixing and observing planes and values which are among among her many talents. She introduced me to Giorgio Morandi who never tired of painting his exquisite still-life paintings of bottles and vases. I too have not tired of painting my ships.

The Tampa Museum of Art, a few years ago, had an exhibition of the American paintings in the Phillips Collection. It felt to me a bit like how viewers must have felt seeing the Armory Exhibition of 1913. I believe those paintings will be with me in my studio for the rest of my life. For example, a painting I just did after the opening of the Elizabeth Moss Exhibition of the Tanja Kosan incorporates the cadmium orange and black of a Clyfford Still. My night scenes lit by the glow from within a freighter harken back to the darkened paintings of Albert Pinkham Ryder.

In conclusion, I want to record the port at this moment in time. To raise awareness of the port. It is a place vital to commerce and growth, but yet largely unavailable to residents because of homeland security. I see these cargo ships as the true international citizens of the world; my nomads of the sea. 

I have always enjoyed what I call “drop-ins” like a movie or novel that drops you into a town where you get immersed in its culture that is often unknown and different from my own. I found life in the port to be a new world. Very few women are in the port although the tugboat Patriot had a female deckhand who was very proficient at the many varied tasks required of her. Researching the Port has meant many hours exploring this world. They were highlighted perhaps by the two days I spent on ships. Taking a 500 foot freighter, the Clipper Newhaven, from the docks, turning it around, and then heading out of the harbor and under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge was one of the most memorable days of my life. Capt. Kurtz, my harbor pilot friend who arranged for me to join her on the ship, is one of only two female pilots in Florida, and one of only 30 or so in the country. Her competence and calm nature were reassuring especially when we had to climb down the side of the ship and step onto the pilot boat while both the freighter and the pilot boat were cruising at 11 knots. Many thanks to the Ukrainian crew who then took the ship to Japan.

Thank you so much to Laura Waller for taking the time to answer our questions and for giving us such a personal look into her work. Please be sure to stop in the gallery to see these beautiful pieces for yourself or email us at [email protected] to inquire about her work. Also, continue to follow our social media channels for more about Laura’s current exhibit, and work and for a full list of available pieces at the gallery please click here.

Exhibition of New Work by Laura Waller

OIG Giant II No. 5, 2015
Oil on linen
36 x 48 x 1.5 inches

OPENING RECEPTION
June 9, 2016
5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

EXHIBITION
June 9 – July 30, 2016

Named one of the top 500 galleries in North America by Artinfo.

251 U.S. 1 • Falmouth, ME 04105

207-781-2620

Local artist Laura Waller’s exhibition, The Working Waterfront: Port Tampa Bay, explores one of Florida’s major marine hubs and provides visual documentation of America’s global industry. This series evokes the 19^th-century Romantic painters’ interest in the sublime, presenting each ship, in its monumental and overwhelming size, with a narrative: carriers that navigate the world, cross boundaries, and, through her presentation, demonstrate their grandeur.  Using angles, ephemeral lighting, and dramatic architecture, Waller pulls the viewer in and demands their interaction and acknowledgment of, as she calls them, “true international citizens.”

Exploring the port by land and boat, Waller investigated the tethered lines, the architectural formations, the shadows, and colors in her surroundings.  From her perspective at water level, Waller documented the massive projections of the hulls, the bulbous bows, the bumpers, anchor chains, and tugboats. Waller’s interest in these ships and industry goes well beyond the physical attributes – she researches shipping terms and the functionality of each element, and she reads literature and documentaries on the U.S. Merchant Marine.  Waller also uses online databases to track the ships as they navigate the world, performing their duties through waters often made treacherous by both man and nature.  Her excitement and passion for this series permeates each painting and allows the viewer to transcend the traditional disconnect between consuming and having access to goods with the knowledge of how these items arrived on our shores – the life and essence of this industry.

Bursting into the viewer’s space, the hull in Thorco Tribute No. 2 (2014) juts forth, evoking feelings of power, solidity, and magnificence.  Waller’s use of color blocking and the juxtaposition of complimentary hues call attention to the form and structural essence of this mighty ship.  The cropped image heightens the importance of the lines and geometric construction of the vessel, unifying individual elements into a cohesive mass of forms.  Water, the conduit on which this ship relies, is absent, forcing the viewer’s attention to be focused on the ominous façade of this rugged hull.

To imbue her paintings with the character and pulsing vibrancy one experiences when viewing her work, Waller captures the rust and grittiness of each ship through her process.  Using an undercoat of raw sienna, sometimes emerging behind the impasto made by rough brushstrokes and the visible marks of a palette knife, Waller’s series is united by the harmonious warm colors and earth tones.  Wrapping around the sides of each canvas, the images appear to continue indefinitely and allude to the incredible size and magnitude of the subject matter, despite the cropped and foreshortened presentation that fills the visual field.   Her work recalls the exploration of form and architecture in early photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Berenice Abbott, conveying the potential for movement in a single moment.  Other influences seen in her paintings include the Post-Impressionists and early abstract painters’ interest in the emotive power of color and form, yet Waller presents a unique style and quality in her work, an examination past the formal elements into the ships as vessels capable of telling their own personal story.

Devoid of human figures, Waller’s paintings nonetheless document the implication of human activity and explore the humble beauty found in the commonplace.  Waller’s goal was to allow the ships to speak to the person engaging with her work, to allow the viewer the opportunity to investigate past the surface presentation, and to leave visible documentation of these giant nomads, a goal she has not only reached, but exceeded.

– Christy Paris has a Masters in Interdisciplinary Humanities from Florida State University and a Masters in Art History from University of South Florida. Her research includes gender and identity, specifically in the works of 20th-century female painters like Grace Hartigan, at Pet Steir, and Sherrie Levine.

A certified teacher in the state of Florida, Christy has been teaching for over 10 years in both secondary and post-secondary levels. Earning her Museum Studies Certificate from FSU, Christie has also interned and worked at the Museum of Fine Arts in Tallahassee and the Museum of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg, Florida. Christy is currently an art history Adjunct Professor at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus. 

Posted on March 9, 2016 – The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA — Fourteen artists have been awarded grants totaling $40,000 by the Arts Council of Hillsborough County as part of its 2016 Individual Artist Grants program.

The grant program is designed to provide support for the professional growth of accomplished, local artists. Artists applied for funds for specific projects that were reviewed and scored by a six-member panel of arts professionals in February. All of the artists live in Hillsborough County.

The Arts Council’s Board of Directors voted unanimously Feb. 25 to approve the panel recommendations for awards. Grantees include Laura Waller, painter, $3,000 for production of exhibition catalog of new work.

Laura Waller, the highest scoring visual artist, also received the Carolyn Heller Visual Arts Award, providing her with an additional $1,000.

Heller was a popular visual artist in Tampa and upon her death in 2011, her family designated memorials in her name be directed to Hillsborough Arts.

By Kendra Langlie, a freelance writer, communications consultant and lover of arts and culture, lives in Tampa. Comments? Contact 83 Degrees. Article photos by Julie Branaman. Published November 11, 2015.

Artist Laura Waller’s new series of 25 paintings puts the spotlight on the gritty grandeur and bustle of Tampa’s most important international commerce hub — Port Tampa Bay. The series will be available for viewing at the Clayton Galleries in South Tampa beginning January 23 through March 7, 2015.

Waller’s work — in water-based oils for this series — provides a warmth and an impressionistic feel in how she treats light, though any softness of more often painted subjects, say, haystacks or water lilies, is entirely absent. Imposing, formidable ships with all their rugged, angled accoutrements – heavy, steel, potentially lethal (should they snap) mooring ropes, forklifts, tugboats and a ubiquity of rust — instead lend the viewer the true brute perspective of human-to-craft scale at the Port. 

“The feeling you get is a lot like looking up at a skyscraper in New York, like you are going to fall over,” Waller describes. “The ships set the narrative. The people are insignificant in these massive boats.”

To behold raw industry through the eyes of an artist like Waller brings a level of beauty, color and interest rarely bestowed upon such a subject. In fact, the existence of this particular subject, Florida’s biggest Port, is all but ignored by most, save for the occasional cheer surrounding the comings and goings of cruise ships.

In reality, the gravitas of Port Tampa Bay and its impact on the state’s economy cannot be underestimated.

The local Port in the heart of downtown Tampa represents $15.1 billion in economic activity and provides directly or indirectly 80,000 above-average-salaried jobs, according to Edward Miyagishima, Port Tampa Bay Senior Advisor in citing a 2013 economic impact study. 

It is currently the largest and deepest port in Florida – with 5,000 acres and a depth of 43 feet, though Miami and Jacksonville have plans to deepen their ports soon. Put in context, Tampa’s Port is about 10 times the size of Miami’s in terms of acreage. It is also the largest in Florida in terms of tonnage shipped of phosphates and petroleum. 

From Backyard to Shipyard

Waller’s Port paintings are an expansion of her 2009-2013 East Coast-West Coast series in which she became intrigued with the everyday environment of the working waterfront.

On the East Coast, she discovered, “you interface with the water close-in,” and decided it was time to explore more closely her own backyard. 

“I started researching the Port Tampa Bay,” she says. “Usually you think of the cruise ships, but its so much more than that. The port is where, historically, civilization spread and commerce grows. Tampa is a big city, because we are a port.” 

She wanted to experience the Port first hand. This is easier said than done. 

As Miyagishima says, “Ports are mysterious. Everyone walks through the airport, you don’t get that opportunity at the port.” Homeland Security and safety regulations keep access tight; the Port is generally closed to the public.  

Waller’s persistence paid off and thanks to a connection at Gulf Marine Repair – part of the Hendry family shipyard operations that have been in service at the Port Tampa Bay for nearly 90 years – she was granted permission to explore the Port. Accompanied by a guard at all times, she took hundreds of photos from the docks and was also permitted access from the water, her son maneuvering through the port in his small boat, a visit she terms “a primordial experience.”

Waller’s fascination with the Port only grew from there. Most of the paintings for this series are named for the ships portrayed “so that you can follow them” as she often does, watching their journeys through pirated waters and dangerous straits thanks to vessel tracker technologies. She imagines the stories, how civilization must have once watched “gorgeous parfait colored ships coming around the bend. … Vikings ready to plunder.” 

Even the maritime vocabulary and equipment requires a learning curve, which Waller describes as “almost like calligraphy.” She says she would like to go back and have the opportunity to accompany a harbor pilot – the specialist who boards and guides the barges and ships safely to dock – and also to photograph the port at night. 

A Personal Journey, Too

Waller’s route to professional artist has been an interesting journey in its own right.

Founder and CEO of Waller & Wax Advisors, Waller was a successful certified financial planner based in Tampa for more than 30 years. For nearly as long, she has found refuge in another port town of a different flavor: Rockland, ME.

“It’s the only way I could get away from the stock market!” she says. While her left-brain was wrapped up in her day job, she continuously nurtured her artistic side studying and painting watercolors, particularly during the time she spent in Maine.  

While Waller was more than accustomed to helping others plan their transitions into retirement, her own transition was marked by a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2005 and her treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. There, she was encouraged to participate in the biennial Eli Lilly Oncology on Canvas Program, entering a watercolor painting that was included along with the passage she wrote about it, in the exhibition that traveled to the Royal Academy of Art in London and worldwide. 

“The passage spoke about cancer giving permission,” says Waller. “That is truly the gift of the experience, and led to my choosing to pursue art full time and to selling my practice to my son.”

Since making that transition in 2011, she has also changed her media of choice to water-based oil and studied closely with artist Tina Ingraham to perfect technique. Waller has since won numerous awards, has exhibited at galleries and shows throughout Florida, Maine and Oregon, and has received three fellowships to the prestigious Vermont Studio Center Residency in Arts Program (the third will be in 2015).

Bringing the Images to the Public
  
Cathy Clayton, founder of Clayton Galleries, an established gallery in South Tampa that typically represents Florida artists, says she knew Waller as a friend, a neighbor, a financial advisor and a collector for the past 15 years. She’s been watching Waller’s career and development as an artist and says she was impressed when Waller started focusing on her artistic expression “in a very linear, professional way. I am really happy the way she has changed and evolved into a fine artist.”

When Waller shared her Port project with Clayton, Clayton felt “this is the time [to represent Waller]: Let’s introduce this series.”  

Clayton says there is already tremendous interest in the project from the Port and the City of Tampa and anticipates more so when the series is displayed in its entirety. A piece from the series is already on exhibit at the Fine Art Exhibition at the Tampa Bay Lightning Amalie Arena, and another has been requested from a museum in Oregon. 

“She found the beauty, the poetry in industrial boats,” says Clayton. ”That makes you pay attention.”  

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Terri

The big ships of Port Tampa are hitting the highways of Tampa. Laura Waller’s painting of OIG Giant II is part of her series of paintings featuring the working ships in the Port of Tampa.

Dividing her schedule between her two studios in Maine and Florida, Laura Waller paints full time and is currently working on her series, Port of Tampa Bay, which was featured in a 2015 solo exhibition at the Clayton Galleries, Tampa, FL. Her award-winning work is collected by individuals and corporations nationwide. A solo exhibition of the latest of Laura Waller’s Port Tampa Bay Series will open January 2017 at Clayton Galleries in Tampa Florida.

Laura’s work is being shown on two OUTFRONT digital boards in these two locations:

• Dale Mabry Highway, .5 mile north of Hillsborough Ave, visible to northbound drivers (this is just north of Raymond James Stadium)
• State Road 60 (aka Brandon Blvd) .5 mile east of I-75, visible to eastbound drivers (this is just east of the Westfield mall)

OUTFRONT Media estimates that each week nearly 250,000 will see the boards displaying the art as they travel those busy highways.

Artwork from seven local artists will pop up on various billboards as part of ArtPop Tampa, a year-long program sponsored by the Arts Council of Hillsborough County, ArtPop and OUTFRONT Media. The artwork will travel to different locations during the program.

Their works will be up high for all to see!

Click here to view the opening night reception pictures in the Laura Waller Art Facebook page.

Clayton Galleries Tampa
Opening Reception: January 23, 2015 from 7 – 9 PM
Runs through March 7th

Artist in the port Tampa Bay

Artist in the port.

The artist at Vermont Studio Center Residency. Photo credit: Howard Romero