Florida Artists John Whitney & Jane Washburn to Open Exhibition Monday,

January 26, 2015 at Gingerbread Square Gallery.

 

This upcoming exhibition at Gingerbread Square Gallery, which will feature a rich

assortment of new works by John Whitney & Jane Washburn, is sure to be intriguing to

collectors of fine art. It begins with an opening reception on Monday, January 26th from 5:30 to

8:30PM and continues through February 2nd. However, it will be available for early viewing

beginning on Sunday, January 25th.

 

John Whitney is a Florida artist whose abstract figurative works are fresh and alluring. Jane

Washburn is a Key West artist whose paintings reflect a plein air inspiration and a love of South

Florida’s natural treasures using a limited palette to capture light and shadows and the interaction of

vibrant tropical colors.

 

John Whitney’s childhood was considerably different than most. His Aunt Marjorie Whitney was

Chairman of the Design Department of the University of Kansas, muralist, and illustrator of numerous

books and publications. His father William R. Whitney Jr. had been Supervisor of The Arts and Crafts

Division of WPA in Kansas, displayed work at the 1939 New York World’s Fair, and also worked with

Eleanor Roosevelt as an advisor for a WPA arts project called The Reedsville Project in Arthurdale,

West Virginia. Growing up in a family of artists, he spent much of his youth on painting excursions

traveling to river banks, road cuts, and lakes, looking for roots and boulders that through erosion had

exposed the skeleton structure that formed the vast prairies of Kansas and Oklahoma. John Whitney

has had a rich life in visual arts starting in 1960 as a stage designer and muralist, exhibiting from

1965 -1970 in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Taos. John is currently a traditional graphics artist and

painter in oil and watercolor. In this studio he works on his well-known figurative works on paper that

are in demand throughout the World. It is from that same studio that he also creates his magnificent

emotion based oil paintings and his very popular watercolors. His work today can be found in

collections from Egypt to Guatemala and Germany and North America.

 

As in his childhood when he used the roots on the riverbanks to describe the understructure of

the prairie, John Whitney paints the essence within us. His complex emotional figurative based work

displays John’s compassion for form and shared space while conveying expressionism. He captures

the substance in the subject and gives it movement by creating multiple views of its form. Each

viewing shapes a different mood and in their fusion he sculpts the intricate novel that reflects our

lives.

 

Jane Washburn is a plein air painter and finds inspiration from a love of South Florida’s natural

treasures. The majestic blue heron and other tropical birds in their various habitats are frequent

themes in her body of work. She uses a limited palette to capture light and shadows and the

interaction of vibrant tropical colors. She finds that oil is a fantastic medium in which to portray this

color, light and texture. Painting in early morning and late afternoon light is my preference. She says

“My hope is that my paintings will bring to the public an awareness that beauty is everywhere and a

reminder that we must protect and preserve our tropical heritage or we will be left with only

memories.”

 

This upcoming exhibition with works by Florida artist Jane Washburn & John Whitney at

Gingerbread Square Gallery will feature a rich assortment of new works and is sure to be

intriguing to collectors of fine art. It begins with an opening reception on Monday, January 26th from

5:30 to 8:30PM and continues through February 2nd. However, it will be available for early viewing

beginning at 12:30PM on Sunday, January 25th.

 

Gingerbread Square Gallery is located “Uptown” at 1207 Duval Street, Key West, Florida 33040.

The gallery is open daily from 10:30AM to 6PM. Phone: 305-296-8900.

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