j. h. news & guide article 4-09
Jackson Hole News and Guide Arpil 1, 2009 A PAINTERLY CONTINUUM In a new departure, September Vhay applies her watercolor talent to oils By Meg Daly Jackson painter September Vhay is known for her iconic watercolors of horses and wildlife. Her glicees grace the faces of greeting cards. Her work has been included in nationally recognized shows such as Birds in Art and the National Museum of Wildlife Art’s Miniatures and More Show. Vhay recently ventured into a new medium: oil painting. The results reveal her innate talent as a watercolorist while signaling exciting possibilities for her work. “People are surprised how fluid the transfer has been for me,” said Vhay. “I apply the same approach I use with watercolor to my oils. In watercolor you don't get a second chance. Mistakes are difficult if not impossible to fix, so there is much preparation in getting compositions ready before even starting a painting.” What Vhay has achieved is the freshness of watercolor with the saturation of color only possible in oils. In her 2007 painting “Yellowstone Grace,” a Trumpeter Swan rests on a field of snow. The image possesses a sort of buoyancy associated with watercolor, as if the swan might lift off the canvass. Yet the layers of burnished rust on the swan’s head neck feathers and the bird’s rich blue shadow could only have been achieved in oils. The combined effect is at once timeless and ethereal. “September really gets the subtle transitions and separations of warm and cool colors, and how they merge,” said award-winning painter Scott Christensen. “She understands the characteristics of light.” Vhay has studied with Christensen and credits him as a mentor. “I learned most of what I know from him in regards to oil painting,” said Vhay. Vhay’s other mentors include a famous relative whom she never met yet whose art surrounded her in childhood. Vhay’s great-grandfather was Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore. Like Vhay, Borglum had a love for horses. “He depicted them beautifully,” said Vhay. One of her favorites of her great-grandfather’s horse sculptures is on exhibit at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. Entitled “The Mares of Diomedes,” (1905) the sculpture is on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vhay grew up on a ranch near Carson City, Nevada. She felt a connection with horses from a very early age. Now, as an adult living in a condo in Jackson, Vhay must seek out her horse inspiration. She often visits Triangle X Ranch and the Red Hills Ranch to photograph the horses. Working from photographs, Vhay tries to recreate what she sees. She says this is her reason for being a painter. “I paint because I see the world like a painter. I see things in composition.” Horses are particularly compelling subjects because she knows them so intimately. “I love to paint draft breeds. They’re massive, gentle spirits.” Vhay says she turned to oil in part so she can work on bigger canvases. “One of my goals is to do large oil paintings of horses,” she said. “Also there is a level of abstraction I’m seeking but I’m not sure what that is yet.” This abstraction was the focus of an exhibition at Trio Fine Art last year in which she presented gestural horses in red paint. “I can only do gesture drawings of horses because their anatomy is so familiar to me,” she said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m channeling them.” Painters Kathryn Mapes Turner and Lee Carlman Riddell are a source of inspiration and support. “I learn so much from them,” said Vhay. The three women own and run Trio Fine Art. The gallery provides a window on where her art goes once it leaves the nest. “Having a gallery, I get to see the completion of the circle when people buy a piece of art,” said Vhay. Being a full-time artist and gallery owner is no easy balancing act, says Vhay. She has implemented a strict schedule that allows her to paint every morning and attend to the business side of her art in the afternoons. Showing up regularly in front of the canvass is key. So is being able to switch gears. She often has two painting going at one time so if she gets stuck on one she can work on the other while her unconscious mind keeps working on the first. “You never know when things are going to come together,” she said. “Approaching a blank canvass is scary. But once I get my head into it, there’s no place I’d rather be.” Vhay calls making art a form of service in the world. It’s just this sort of confidence mixed with humility that shines through her paintings. The artist’s reverence and respect for her subjects is always evident. Even though her work has gained an exciting momentum in recent years, she hasn’t let that go to her head. “I still feel like I have so far to go,” said Vhay. “I love knowing that for the rest of my life I’ll be consistently looking for the next painting.”