Artistic harmony defines creative couple
By Stephan Malick
Continuing the success of its pop-up show program, artists Albert and Amy Faggard will be spotlighted for March 4 – 20 in the TASI sales gallery with “Eclectic Interpretations.” The exhibition will lead off with a virtual event March 4, in conjunction with First Thursday, and to observe COVID guidelines for public gatherings.
Both have a vision of what they like to create, and that makes a balance between their work and their relationship. The show will demonstrate their individual visions and talent.
The exhibit is intended to showcase their individual styles. Amy’s aesthetic is more abstract, she said, and Albert said he fancies a variety of styles, but tends toward realistic works.
“I don’t like sticking to one style,” Albert said. “I like to paint a variety of work and whatever strikes my fancy. Most of my work is realistic. You know, a duck looks like a duck. I’ve been blessed in the past. I’ve had a lot of clients that liked that kind of stuff, but I also have an Impressionist or Surrealistic side also.”
Amy said everyday life provides inspiration for her paintings, and has for most of her life.
“I’ve mostly been concentrating on painting things around my environment, there’s a lot of subject matter that people don’t really think about right in your backyard,” she said. “I mean, I’ve got hanging plants, flowers on the kitchen table, drapery, bed sheets, linens.
“But, the way I’ve been making them more exciting and adding more drama to them, I’ve been painting them larger than they’re supposed to be — larger than life. And I’ve been trying to use a lot of lights and darks, and trying to add more drama to my work and enlarging the scale.”
Amy said she hopes that this exaggeration creates a mood and draws somebody to the work.
The pair speak with passion and pride about making art and said the pop-up show will combine a mixture of works — some recent, others that are part of their collection of works that they have both been adding to over time.
The couple said they enjoy looking at each other’s work and can have an easy conversation about what each of them is working on. The appreciation and admiration they have for one another doesn’t rest on competition, but respect.
“It’s not about being better than each other,” he said. “It’s just when we work together as partners we really do enjoy it. I think the fun part of it is, we have different styles in different audiences a lot of the time, but we work together on everything.
Harmony is what comes across in their creativity and relationship. The couple said they feed off each other’s ideas and passion for making art.
Both attended Lamar University, Albert studied under Jerry Newman at Lamar University, John Alexander and others as an undergraduate and graduate student. Amy earned her Master’s in Art from Lamar in 2013. She was The Art Studio, Inc. Member Jurored Art Exhibition, or TASIMJAE, first-place winner in 2012 earning a solo show at TASI in 2013.
Eclectic Interpretations: Albert & Amy Faggard March 4-20, 2021, Tuesday to Saturday, 12 to 5 PM.
To view album of complete work available for purchase, click link: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?vanity=theartstudioinc&set=a.10157532387226901
Gallery Talk with TASI Assistant Curator Michelle Cate and exhibiting artists, Albert and AmyFaggard: https://www.facebook.com/195547041900/videos/1151765005274291
“Eclectic Interprepretations” can be viewed in person at TASI’s sales gallery at 720 Franklin in downtown Beaumont. Admission is free, and The Studio is practicing social distancing and other federal, state and county guidelines; you will need a mask to enter the gallery.