VERO BEACH — Gwen McNenny’s “Architectural Impressions” will open at Lighthouse Gallery on Friday, May 2, during the First Friday Downtown Art Stroll. It will be her first exhibit of new works in the Vero Beach area.
“Architectural Impressions” represents her travels around the world and slices of life under various roofs. A culture and society is grown out of a house, between four walls with a sturdy roof over head, and Gwen brings those structures to life.
Even though citizens who inhabit these cities are not painted and are thousands of miles away, the viewer can feel the people who would roam the streets, the business man who would own the shop, and the family that would call this place home.
McNenny’s work is heavily influenced by the colorful and vibrant environment cultivated by an eccentric mother. This laid the ground work for her future as a self-taught artist.
A turning point in Gwen’s self-discovery came when her family relocated to Bogota, Colombia. Suddenly she was surrounded by gorgeous, lush landscapes, an invigorating climate, charming architecture and lovely enterprising people.
Gwen was inspired to create, and so enrolled in an interior design course. It was here she discovered her passion for drawing. Her brief lesson in interior design had given her the tools she needed to accurately render architectural perspective and she began to produce mixed media pieces of Latin American architecture prolifically.
The quaint, rambling Spanish Colonial architecture that she saw everywhere in Colombia heavily influenced her developing style. The red rooftops and windy villages of the world are magnets for Gwen’s art.
Gwen’s landscapes, both architectural and natural, are rendered with multi-mediums, using ether acrylics or water colors their base and then defining the forms with pen and ink and colored pencil highlights.
The inspired drawings of Gwen McNenny will be on display at Lighthouse Gallery through the month of May.
The gallery is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m., Friday’s until 4 p.m. and Saturday’s until 2 p.m.
