Review

"Inviting Light," Pastel.

Brent Seevers
Outdoor Impressions

8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m.

Kansas City Kansas Public Library
(Main Branch)
625 Minnesota Ave.
Kansas City, KS
913.551.3280

Hours: 8:30 a.m.-8:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday
Runs through: July 16.

Artist's site: http://www.brentseevers.com
Gallery site: http://www.kckpl.org/FINEARTS/exhibits.htm

Certain sites in Kansas City are magnets for artists: The Western Auto Building, the Country Club Plaza, the rose garden at Loose Park. For artists depicting those places — in any medium — the challenge is to present the familiar in a way that doesn't seem overly so.

Impressionism offers one possible avenue; after all, each person's individual takes on a place are bound to be different, if even slightly.

That's the approach Brent Seevers has taken in Outdoor Impressions, his show of pastels at the main branch of the Kansas City, Kansas Public Library.

Seevers presents images of the aforementioned rose garden, giving each of them his own stamp. And while he doesn't define himself as an Impressionist, his sympathies definitely lie in that direction.

I define impressionism as a form of alterations through creativity, he writes. With an impressionist style, I am able to work a little more freely, stepping a little further outside the lines of nature. Instead of drawing what I see how it is really appears; I draw what I see with slight modifications in color, shape, and form. I find it important to recognize and define what every line represents, careful not to alter the line to the point where it becomes abstract. Every line has its purpose in bringing the work into a unified whole.

In this case, the unified whole is color-intensive and infused with light, as today's image (coincidentally titled Inviting Light) shows. Seevers, who is self-taught, shows command of his style and obvious affection for his subject matter.

Drawing the world has always brought me great pleasure, whether it is visually in front of me, or mentally, Seevers continues. I give my work life with a variety of techniques. Slight color vibration and visual marks are used to capture the essence of the subject. The blending of colors in the background helps create depth. Some of my work delivers a sense of realism when seen from a distance as the alteration of the subject is blended in the eyes of the viewer. This effect is created in a variety of ways. When looking up close you can see the techniques used; the line strokes, side strokes, and the use of broken color to name a few.

Individual impressions of the pastels will, of course, vary. But from up close or farther away — or better yet, from both perspectives — Seevers' Outdoor Impressions are worth seeing.

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