Cantrell Gallery is pleased to announce the premiere one-person-exhibit by Megan A. Lewis, titled “Painting”. This exhibit opens with a reception on Friday October 24, 6-8:00 pm. The reception is open to the public and is a great opportunity to be one of the first to see this wonderful body of works and meet the artist.
The exhibit will continue through the end of the year. Regular gallery hours are Monday – Saturday, 10-5:00, but closed on Thanksgiving Day and December 24 (at2:00) – January 2.
 
“Painting” – an exhibit of recent works by Megan A. Lewis
Artist Statement:
“For years I have driven back and forth over a stretch of road that climbs to the top of a hill, offering a brief but beautiful view. From the top, you can see a distant hillside framed with trees.  I never fail to notice how that hillside changes color day by day, sometimes appearing gray blue and other times, swathed in various shades of green. By far, my favorites are the days when it looks as if it’s covered in lavender. I have always been fascinated by how a subtle change in light or atmosphere can completely transform the way things appear and feel, not just in nature, but, even as the light creeps across the carpet under the grand piano at church, for example.
In the early years of my journey as an artist, I was content to apply paint to canvas, somewhat indiscriminately. If there was anything I took away from my university art education in the 70’s and 80’s, it was that there are no rules. But over the years, I found myself stagnating as an artist. As a young writer might discover that a superb vocabulary is only as brilliant as the sentence structure that contains it, I came to realize that my lack of knowledge and discipline with regard to the basic elements of design were holding me back as an artist. This realization led to a lengthy course of self-study, which has included a lot of reading, a close examination of the master works of yesterday as well as the work of those who have followed in their footsteps today, watching demonstration footage over and over, attending painting workshops, taking figure classes, and of course, countless hours of practice in the studio.

The work that hangs today is some of the fruit of what I’ve learned along the way. While the process has at points been frustrating, the value of what I’ve gained cannot be underestimated.  My creative inclinations have suffered no loss. Rather than being restricted by these timeless principles, I feel I have been liberated by them.”
Megan A. Lewis was born in Kansas City, Kansas in 1960. Throughout her childhood, she enjoyed the local privilege of regular visits to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, MO, which houses one of the finest collections of art in the world. From a very early age, Megan loved creating pictures.
In 1982 Megan graduated from the University of Kansas with a BFA in Painting.  She spent the next three months exploring Europe and its many art treasures before packing up and moving to Colorado.  She was fortunate for the opportunity to work and show her paintings at Breckenridge Galleries in Breckenridge, CO.  Megan moved to Little Rock in 1990 with her husband, James. She laid aside her paints for a number of years while working in full time ministry and raising their son, Drew.
When Megan returned to painting, she chose to do so as a student. A course by local watercolor artist, David Paul Cook, introduced Megan to the joy of painting the landscape en plein air. Several years ago she began to study under local figure artist, Stephen Cefalo, whose teaching on light and form transformed her approach to painting and took her to the next level.
Megan works primarily in oils. The wonderful and ever-varied effect of light on any subject, whether dramatic or subtle, is a source of endless fascination to the artist. One could spend a lifetime learning to document the shapes, color, and beauty created by various light sources, and never weary of it.
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