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Acclaimed Central Alberta artist Larry Reese featured in Lacombe exhibit

Sylvan Lake area artist Larry Reese is set to showcase some of his extraordinary paintings via an exhibit at the Lacombe Memorial Centre.

Entitled 'Visions of the Heartland', the exhibit runs through to Dec.19.

Reese, an accomplished painter, could be described as the truly consummate artist - his vibrant paintings are known for their intricacy and richness of colour. Plus, he's a gifted musician and a terrific actor. And he's a busy man, with multiple exhibits going on around the province.

But still, Reese finds serene spaces of time to pursue his painting - so much of which captures the beauty of his natural surroundings by Sylvan Lake.

It was back in the 1980s that Reese, while living in Mexico, spent time with German expressionist painter Georg Rauch, who encouraged him to change from primarily painting with watercolours to oil. It proved to be a powerful shift in terms of tapping into an ideal means of expression.

"I've been painting for decades and decades, and I feel like I'm on a journey. Everyday that passes that I'm painting, I'm feeling stronger and more confident with it," he explained. "And I hope this journey never ends! I don't want to 'arrive' at a place of thinking, 'Oh, I'm a good painter now'," he added with a laugh.

"I need that journey to keep going, otherwise I could get stuck in my comfort zone. I've got to keep pushing the edges to address the creativity and the inspiration that I get from just walking outside my front door."

Meanwhile, the Lacombe exhibit will feature a number of paintings that have been done over the years, but most of which are relatively recent, he noted.

Some of the paintings reflect farming, while others depict scenes ranging from pastures and waterfalls, to winter vistas to mountains.

"A number of them have never been in shows before, so it's really exciting for me to show folks some new work, along with some older work, too. But they are all centred around Central Alberta," he explained, adding it's a bit of a challenge selecting what goes into a show when he's got literally hundreds to choose from.

"It's quite difficult, but on the other hand, it's exciting to have that kind of choice! To have enough work to choose from, and say, at this point, these ones are worthy of sharing," he said. "It's a lot of fun to go through, and make selections specific to a given gallery or exhibition place."

After moving to Red Deer in 1987, Reese decided to take his painting more seriously and enroled as a part-time student in the Visual Arts Program at the then Red Deer College. It wasn't long before his natural abilities began to shine through.

Reese has since shown his work nationally, and has collectors in Canada, Mexico and the U.S. And as mentioned, he's talented on many fronts - Reese has been very much involved in theatre and film. 


He co-founded the Motion Picture Arts Program at Red Deer College in 2001, and was the head of performance.

Reese also continued to hone his acting chops, with credits running the gamut from roles in Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven to Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain.

He retired from RDC in 2017 to work at his painting career full-time, and one of his favourite activities is the 'en plein air' (outdoor) approach with his friend and mentor David More. 

"The different genres, and the different directions I've gone in my expression and creativity, whether through acting or music, film or painting - they all relate to each other," he said.

For one thing, filming a movie and painting both involve a keen understanding of the particulars of composition.

"Also, when I'm painting in my studio, I listen to music. And the music oftentimes has an influence on how I'm feeling about what I am painting," he explained.

"No matter what artistic form you take on, you spend a long time working on the basics, too," he said. "When something inspires you, you have to be able to have the tools to respond to it, and to move forward with your abilities technically. Then, you are better able to respond to that creative impulse."

Interestingly, Reese - despite the accolades and shows far and wide - still feels a bit of self-doubt at times.

But he's okay with that.

"That self-doubt is a motivator. I have doubts about every single painting that I do," he said. "It's about working through the process of problem-solving with a lot of the paintings. I think that is something that keeps you on the upward track - wanting to do better and better the next time.

"What keeps me going? There are a number of things - one is that I have a fascination with colour. There are in indefinite amount of mixes for different qualities, values and hues," he said. "I also love the fact that as I'm painting, I'm creating and surprising myself about how the painting is developing. I'm seeing the stories that are coming out of that painting, and then, as an 'en plein air' painter, I also see how the start of the painting can be very different then its end in terms of light."

On a film set once, he asked legendary actor Gene Hackman if he ever watched his own movies.

"He said he didn't. He explained the movies were for other people, and what interested him was the process. He said what happened after he did that process wasn't really his to change." It was in the audience's hands from then on.

Reese was struck by the sentiment.

"So for me, I'm also wanting to constantly go through that process as opposed to (thinking) the end result is all-important."


 



Mark Weber

About the Author: Mark Weber

I've been a part of the Black Press Media family for about a dozen years now, with stints at the Red Deer Express, the Stettler Independent, and now the Lacombe Express.
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