Gary Anthes

Barbara Heile studied painting and received degrees (BA76 and MFA82) at American University in Washington, D.C. during a time when the faculty was still grounded and sensitive to the tradition of painting as embodied by artists who worked in a visual and refined expressive process.

She works primarily in oil and cold wax and began exploring acrylics in 2022.

Any medium that affords her a visual and painterly way into relationship with what she is feeling - and open to seeing - is her path.

Her approach is truly Aquarian in nature. Her work is original and she is open to the new; honoring of tradition she is not held by it. In earlier years the landscape had her full attention. This gave way to her interest in the abstract surface for its own sake, as expressive paint. The inner landscape of her felt sense is at present her main subject where new shapes come into painted form.

The paintings express joy and freedom and a depth of stillness through the healing qualities of color and light.

The directness and spontaneity of her approach, often using her hand directly to move the paint, can be felt in the surface and in the free interplay of color. She sees her way of painting as a path of expressive contemplation and is grateful for this way of loving the world as a visual artist.

Barbara has been actively showing in group and one person shows since the early 1980‘s and is a familiar face among artists in Rappahannock County. She enjoyed three years teaching Drawing and Painting at Lord Fairfax Community College in Warrenton, VA. Until its closing in 2015, she kept an active and open studio at River District Arts in Sperryville Her daily studio work now takes place at home.

Her natural call to painting supports her wish to share the experience of the mystery we all live in as human beings. A lifelong meditation practice supports the silent depth you can experience in even her smallest paintings. Her paintings have found homes around the world.

Being the mother of three independent and creative sons, raised in Rappahannock County, is by far her most rewarding life experience.

Barbara keeps an active diary of her work in progress on Instagram @bheileart ~~~thank you for looking! ~~~

GARY ANTHES: PHOTOGRAPHER'S STATEMENT

I try to avoid bringing any preconceived style or “vision” to my photographs, believing that each image is best approached on its own terms, speaking its strengths in its own voice. Nevertheless, the Zen qualities of simplicity, mystery, and transience hold special allure for me.

I am an enthusiastic user of digital technology, but I prefer to limit its application. In general, I will not go beyond the kinds of adjustments that film photographers have made in their darkrooms for many decades. These words inspire me: "The contemplation of things as they are, without error or confusion, without substitution or imposture, is in itself a nobler thing than a whole harvest of invention." – Dorothea Lange

Visit my website: https://garyanthes.smugmug.com

HARMONY IN THE BARN: New Photography by Gary Anthes at Middle Street Gallery

The natural world and the built world come seamlessly together this month in the color photographs of Gary Anthes at Middle Street Gallery in Washington, Va. His poetic views of plants, animals, and farm tools – carefully arranged in an abandoned barn on his Castleton property – evoke the elemental beauty in rural woodlands and meadows. “Partita Rustica – Life and Death in a Virginia Barn,” will show at the gallery from June 2 through July 9. Works by the other members of the artists' cooperative will be on display as well. “The barn on my Virginia farm was built 200 years ago and has stood abandoned for 60 years,” he says. “It once housed a cow, a horse, and a few chickens, but it now shelters spiders, mice, wasps, and the occasional snake. Despite these creatures, and the perils of copious dust and rusty nails, it was a perfect retreat from a pandemic, and here I discovered the joy of creating still-life art.” Set against the interior walls of the structure, the objects are illuminated by natural light streaming through doors and gaps in the wooden planks. They are at first glance simple things, but the simplicity yields to more complex views on closer inspection, Anthes says. Of the title of the show, he says, “I think of my carefully constructed arrangements as musical compositions employing the elements of melody, harmony, rhythm, and texture to create small works for a chamber ensemble.”

Anthes will donate his proceeds to the Humane Farming Association.

The gallery, www.middlestreetgallery.org and (540) 227-5066, is now located at 311 Gay Street, Lower Level, facing Main Street & across from Ballard’s Washington, VA.