The Montgomery Museum of Art and History will launch a new exhibit Thursday, Nov. 5, featuring paintings by local artist Judy Crowgey.
Crowgey’s exhibit will present serene nature scenes with careful attention to detail and creative color mixtures. Each of her paintings is unique, which provides for an exciting exhibit to walk through and explore.
Crowgey has been an avid creator her entire life, and her experience shows in the variety she presents in this exhibit. Though she is talented in other mediums, such as quilt work and sewing, her exhibit spotlights her painted works. Judy will display paintings created with acrylic paints and watercolors.
The exhibit features a pleasant array of subjects and style. About her exhibits, Crowgey said, “When people see an exhibit of mine, they can’t recognize the pieces are from the same artist.”
She is inspired by the details of her everyday life, whether it be nature scenes, harbor scenes or architecture. “You see things and notice things as an artist,” she said, and those details, unbeknownst to the unexperienced eye, are the subjects of her art. In her paintings, she said, “I like to use color, and I like the simple scenes.”
But her art is far from simple. In one of her paintings, for instance, she glued a map of the northwestern United States on her canvas and painted blue birch trees lining a sunlit, yet shadowy, path. In another of her paintings, she transforms a photo of a brown stucco-looking building in Spain into a brightly colored scene by infusing it with color.
Crowgey’s creative process typically involves taking a picture of a scene or a subject that catches her eye and then using her talents to create something unique and beautiful out of that image.
“A painting is supposed to enhance what you’re looking at and make it even better,” Crowgey said.
Crowgey has shared her talent with the New River Valley for many years as an exhibiting member of the Blacksburg Regional Art Association, a member of the Montgomery Museum and an exhibiting artist at the Maggie Gallery in Floyd.
The museum will keep the exhibit in place through December.
