"Structure & Light" Exhibit Opens at the Jordan Hall Arts Center

Last night I hung my new solo exhibition, "Structure and Light: Paintings by Kenneth Eugene Peters," in the Jordan Hall Arts Center Gallery. The show will run until April 30, 2009 and it includes nine works, all in oil. The Jordan Hall Arts Center is located at 908 North Harrison Avenue, Cary NC 27512. It is open Monday-Friday, 9 AM to 10 PM and Saturdays 9 AM to 4 PM. For more information on Jordan Hall, visit http://www.townofcary.org/depts/prdept/facilities/jhachome.htm

Winter's Light

Continuing the theme of last week's post, here is another in the short series of canvases I produced in 2007 that featured my living room and its huge bay window. I consider this work to be a sketch rather than a polished piece. I did not labor over it for more than a few hours and I don't consider it to be exhibition-worthy. Nevertheless, I was very pleased with the shadow effect created by the muntins in the bay window and the light that accented the green chair in the left-hand portion of the painting.

"Winter's Light." 16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas. Completed in June 2007.

Sunlight on a Pink Sofa

Periodically I will use the interior of my home as a source for new work. In 2007 I did a short series of small paintings depicting the large bay window in my living room and the lighting effect that is created by sunlight streaming through it. This canvas is one of those works.

The sofa seen in the painting is a large Hollywood-style sectional sofa that I purchased at an antique shop in Raleigh. At the time it was dilapidated and covered in a badly stained yellow-and-green oriental-themed fabric. However, the bones of the sofa were solid and a reupholstery job was all that was needed to bring it back to life.

The bay window is the most prominent architectural detail on the front of my house. It opens to a southern exposure, and the shadows created by the ever-present sunlight form intriguing shapes throughout the day. Another canvas produced in this series, "House at Dusk," shows the window in the evening when the street lights outside produce eerie shadows that create an almost menacing atmosphere within the room.

This painting will be featured in my solo exhibition "Structure and Light" which will be on display in the Jordan Hall Arts Center, Cary NC from March 31 to April 30, 2009.

"Sunlight on a Pink Sofa." Oil on stretched canvas, 14 x 11 inches. Completed in January 2007.

Chateau Marmont

Since returning from a vacation to California last September, I've completed two versions of the famed Sunset Strip hotel, the Chateau Marmont. The Marmont was located just a few blocks east of my host hotel along the Strip, so I walked by it frequently while visiting Hollywood. Its towering, fortress-like facade fascinated me every time I strolled by, and I took many photographs of it.

Opening in 1929, the hotel has hosted Hollywood royalty from its inception. It was a favorite hideaway for Greta Garbo, and Jean Harlow honeymooned at the Marmont. Perhaps its most infamous story surrounds "Saturday Night Live" actor-comedian John Belushi, who was found dead from a drug overdose in one of the Marmont's guest bungalows in 1982.

When I returned home from my trip, I decided to complete a small study of the hotel based on some of the photos I took while in California. The painting above was the result. I wanted to capture the hotel's mystery and allure in this canvas, so I chose a dark night scene. The complex sits high above Sunset Boulevard, and is especially intriguing at night. Having completed the small study, I decided to do a much larger version (30" x 24") a few weeks later. Unfortunately, the second work doesn't capture the Marmont's unique atmosphere as well as the small study did, and feels heavy and stilted. I will likely paint over that version at some point, but the small study is a personal favorite of mine.

For more information on the Chateau Marmont, visit http://www.chateaumarmont.com/ or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chateau_Marmont.

"Chateau Marmont Study." Oil on stretched canvas, 11 x 14 inches. Completed in October 2008.

Song of the Hurricane

This week I am featuring another figurative work on the blog. Entitled "Song of the Hurricane," the painting depicts a scene developed from my imagination, but also inspired by music.

While listening to the Rodney Crowell album "The Houston Kid" one day, the idea for this composition came to me during his rendition of the song "Telephone Road." I let the idea ruminate for several months before beginning the canvas. Using myself as a model, I combined a self-portrait sketch with a composition based on a photo I found on the Internet of Hurricane Wilma hitting south Florida in 2005. The plate-glass window was improvised, but the curtains and furniture are based on pieces I have in my own home.

"Song of the Hurricane." Oil on stretched canvas, 24 x 36 inches. Completed September 2007.