Edward Wade, Jr.
Ed Wade, Jr., began drawing when he was three years old, a love that carried him through career stints as a shoe salesman, a firefighter, a substitute teacher, a correctional officer, a police officer, and a pastor.
Although Wade also works in pen and ink, graphite, and creative digital photography, it is his love of the transparent medium of watercolor that gently glows through "A Diversity of Shape, Color, and Design."
Wade says the title of the exhibit refers to his inspiration for his art, moments that would normally go unnoticed. Wade claims that the artist views the world differently than the average person; he says that where other people see people, places, and things, the artist will see "size, shapes, color, contrast, values, and texture." Art is, according to Wade, the by-product of the artist's attempt "to show the world what his eyes have seen differently than everyone else's."
In "Gettin' Ready," an older man crouches down over a tackle box, making his pole ready for a day's fishing. In "For the Cat's Eye," children are grouped around a dirt circle playing marbles. In "The Balancing Act," four boys are caught in various poses of balance while attempting to cross a stream on stepping stones. The mundane luminesces, the everyday translates into "moments" through color and texture in Wade's paintings.
Images such as "The Gold Hat Club" and "Autumn Fishers 4" display landscapes ablaze with riotous colors so intense that the human figures are dwarfed into afterthoughts. By contrast, in images such as "Waders 1" and "Let's Play Together," the seaside landscapes fade into near nothingness as the colorful human figures enliven and brighten the scenes.
Wade was raised in Milwaukee and studied graphic arts at Oshkosh University. He now lives in Marianna, Arkansas, with his wife, four children and two grandchildren. His work has been published by Artistic Impressions, Arts Uniq, and Ellis and Lord Editions. He exhibited at the Decor Art Show at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta. You can view more of his work on his Web site at www.edwadestudios.com.
"A Diversity of Shape, Color, and Design" will be on display in Mullins Library lobby level through May 1. For more information, call 479-575-6702.
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