Idaho artist Jessica L. Bryant finds herself looking out over the land near her home and pondering all the people who have walked there in human history. Every patch of earth, she imagines, has been touched by another person. The thought of this might sadden some artists, but for Bryant it’s soothing.
Afternoon Sun at Spruce Tree, watercolor, 18 x 24 in.
“People have lived everywhere, journeyed everywhere, so when you stand somewhere in nature you know there may have been hundreds of people who stood there before you. Back in time, these people were right there in those exact places. It’s a unique link to past generations and to our ancestors, and ancestors from other communities,” she says. “I don’t need to be the first person to see a place. I used to think that way, but not anymore. These are myths we hold onto about us as individuals.”
Whether it was occupied by Indigenous people 10,000 years ago, or Bryant last week, nature is constant. The river, the hills, the rocks—people come and go, but the land remains. This theme is conveyed in Bryant’s evocative new landscapes that will be shown at a show opening May 9 at Coeur d’Alene Galleries in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The show is titled Upstream Color, which refers to the use of water in nearly all of the new paintings and the upstream location of Bryant’s home and studio.
Tubbs Hill: Southern Exposure, watercolor, 29 x 17 in.
Twelve new pieces will be unveiled at the show. All of them are inspired by the artist’s careful observation of nature, which was a unique byproduct of aspects of her childhood, namely long car trips to her grandparents’ houses and an unfortunate ability to get carsick on car rides. By the time she arrived anywhere, she had to calm her mind outdoors.
“I would sit outside the farm watching frogs creating ripples in the water or wind blwoing through the trees. I realize now I was learning to see the way an artist needs to see,” she says. “To really look at what is happening, that was what I learned. Whether it’s a chair or a bicycle or a car, you have to look at the arrangement of abstract shapes, the components of those shapes, the color and the values. Even the smallest thing might be made up of 4,000 different tiny shapes. You have to start simplifying it in your mind. For me I started pulling those shapes in to realism, which can be overwhelming. Most of our lives we’re taught how to see colors and shapes, but not value. That has to be learned separately as its own concept.”
Bryant has brought these ideas about observation directly into her work. They are expressed in realistic nature scenes, many of them filled with complexly rendered light and water.
Springtime on the Little North Fork, watercolor, 16½ x 29 in.
“Upstream Color is our second one-person show with Jessica L. Bryant, and the anticipation couldn’t be higher because our first exhibition was a sell-out show,” says gallery owner Buddy Le. “Jessica’s masterful control of the watercolor medium is unrivaled. She has a great understanding of composition and it’s an element of painting that is often overlooked; however, collectors instantly resonate with the lights and shadows portrayed in her work. I think what stands out most is how she’s able to portray water with transparency and reflections that seem so realistic that it feels like you’re standing on the river’s edge. You can almost hear the birdsong, the water running and the breeze through the trees with Jessica’s work. There’s nothing like the experience of calm on a winding river, and it mirrors the calm of living with fine art for collectors.” —
Coeur d’Alene Galleries 213 Sherman Avenue » Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814 » (208) 667-7732 » www.cdagalleries.com
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