The Art Studio, Inc. (TASI) will host an exhibition of artwork by Roy Bares and Samantha Bares titled “The Two Bares” in the Maudee Carron Gallery during November. TASI will hold a reception for the exhibit on November 3rd from 5 to 8 p.m.. The reception is part of scheduled First Thursday activities which are free and open to the public.
The father and daughter duo, from Nederland, TX, have each grown their love and talent for art for several generations. Samantha’s first teacher was her father Roy, who has been an art teacher in Southeast Texas for 30 years. Roy was encouraged to draw and paint from a young age by his father who was an illustration artist.
“I have much gratitude for the opportunity to show my work alongside my father,” Samantha said, “the concept of showing art that has come from two familial generations of artists is exciting.”
Samantha earned her MFA degree with a concentration in printmaking in the Spring of 2021 at University of Colorado in Boulder. Roy graduated from Lamar University in 1990 with his BFA in All-Levels Art education with a concentration in Studio Arts.
“Over the years I have done many private commissions, murals, opaque and transparent painting,” Roy said. “The last 20 years I have been exploring new mixed medias in metal, wood, sculpture, but I keep being pulled back to watercolor. It’s such a mobile media for me that I can take anywhere on the go.”
Roy’s biggest artistic influences in his youth through his teens were fantasy artists such as Boris Vallejo and Frank Frazetta.
“As I spent more time in the studio during college, Jerry Newman really changed my direction, and focus explore painting on a deeper level. It was a growth period, making mistakes, mixing paints for hours, pushing and pulling the brush across a variety of surfaces. There is no way around that experience. I often tell my students that their paintings are like steppingstones on a path to enlightenment. I am still on the path, learning and growing!”
Roy’s work varies between realistic, impressionistic, and surreal. He tries to invoke a personal connection to artwork for private commissions, and researches locations and histories for plein air pieces.
“I do religious paintings off and on as well,” he said. “Often times the meaning of the paintings will change for me. What I had originally intended as the meaning for such a painting change after I have completed it. Often these paintings become an affirmation for my faith. It’s hard to explain this in words, but better said standing in front of the art talking about it.”
Samantha’s main influences come from graphic arts such as book illustrations and comics, as well as movies.
“My work brings in fragments of imagery from my own lived experience, the experiences of my
family, dreams, and folklore to construct representational narratives,” she said. “I am interested in constructing environments that contain a complex amalgamation of emotions brought on by the actions of the figures that inhabit it.”
“I hope that viewers are interested in the stories that my work tells. The figures and the
environments in my work are a part of fabricated worlds that are anchored to my own identity, to
my own experiences and to the lives of those close to me. Though my art practice involves the
creation of multiples, I am extremely attached to each of my prints, as they are vulnerable
extensions of myself.”
The Art Studio’s galleries, located at 720 Franklin St. in Beaumont, are open for viewing by the public from noon to 5pm, Tuesday through Saturday.
“I am so happy to be in this art show with my daughter Sam,” Roy said. ”Her artwork is so amazing and thought provoking. As a Dad I couldn’t be prouder of her accomplishments. As a fellow artist, I respect her works deeply and cannot wait to see what else she produces in the future!”