A new take on a decade’s-long tradition will unfold at The Hardware Store Restaurant when island artist Pam Ingalls’ new show, “After Melinda, Paintings of Croatia and Northern Italy,” opens on First Friday, Dec. 2.
For the past 12 years, Ingalls has shown her light-infused oil paintings throughout the popular eatery at the request of owner Melinda Powers. From portraits of islanders to the far-flung fields of Africa and rich interiors of Italian cafés, Ingalls’ paintings evoke the essence of her subjects, captured from photographs or videos she shoots.
In a marked departure, Ingalls’ new work comes from photographs taken not by the artist but by Powers, who traveled to Croatia and Northern Italy last spring.
“The paintings in this show are a big experiment,” Ingalls said. “I’ve rarely painted from another person’s photographs in the past. For family reasons, I haven’t been able to travel for the past few years. When my friend and neighbor Melinda Powers went to Croatia and Northern Italy this past spring, the photos she sent back made my heart ache. I miss Italy, and it’s been more than 30 years since I walked through Croatia.”
Touched and inspired by the images, Ingalls asked Powers if she could paint a body of work from her photographs. Powers agreed, and then Ingalls took a virtual tour in her own studio.
“It’s been challenging and a joy to translate Melinda’s view of the world into my own paintings,” Ingalls said. “I really feel like I’ve had a trip to Venice this year, even if I haven’t left the island.”
According to Ingalls, in another long-held tradition, when artists copy a great painting by a master like Rembrandt, they sign their name and underneath their signature they add, “after Rembrandt.”
“So this whole show is “after Melinda,” Ingalls said.
The opening for “After Melinda, Paintings of Croatia and Northern Italy” will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, at The Hardware Store Restaurant Gallery. Daryl Redeker will play his guitar from the stage above the gallery.
The show is also part of the Vashon Island Holiday Art Studio Tour, which will be held the first two weekends of December.
