When the watercolourist Phillip Pollock is surrounded by the green and heat that accompanies a fall and winter in Florida, his mind wanders to a completely different, distant landscape. Old childhood hiking memories come back to life when he remembers growing up with his three brothers in Iowa. Instead of palm trees, he imagines barren tree landscapes that lie in wait for a snow-covered blanket.
While the scenes he paints from memory go back to the rolling cliffs and forests of the Midwest, Pollock’s more recent work celebrates scenes he photographs in St. Mark’s Wildlife Refuge. He especially likes to show his appreciation for the small but powerful species of warblers.
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“My intention in painting is to draw attention to the refuge and make it stand out,” says Pollock. “I want people to know about Refuge, see these images and be inspired by them. I would also like to bring these Florida birds into the minds of people who love the refuge and show them that there are other birds besides the great eagles and herons. ”
One of Pollock’s most recent paintings, “Pine Warbler in Palmettos,” was selected for the Brush Strokes Tallahassee Watercolor Society’s 2021 membership exhibition. This annual exhibition is curated by COCA for the Art in Public Places program on behalf of the City of Tallahassee.
Pollock’s painting is currently on display at the City Hall Art Gallery and is one of 40 paintings that cover a wide range of watercolor techniques and subjects. Both the physical and online exhibits can be seen until November 15th.
“Celebrating the Beauty of Refuge”
“Conservation is always a topic of discussion,” says Pollock, president of Friends of the St. Mark’s Wildlife Refuge. “I use excerpts from my art in our newsletters. In them we talk about celebrating the beauty of the hideaway and how to leave only one footprint, no trash. There is a delicate balance nowadays with climate change and development, and many of these species are not as prominent as they used to be. “
Both nature and art are an integral part of Pollock’s life and career. In elementary school, he entered and won Dubuque County, Iowa’s Fire Prevention Poster competitions and drew birds as a hobby. In college, he was a research assistant at the University of Iowa’s Natural History Museum. Pollock’s museum background enabled him to become familiar with the anatomical makeup of birds and other wildlife.
Pollock’s family has always been into art. He watched his father draw birds, and one of his older brothers was skilled at copying and drawing figures. For outside influences, he has always looked up to professional Iowa artists like Maynard Reece.
Reece is known for his paintings, which focused on ducks and won the Federal Duck Stamp competition five times in his life. Borrowing from Reeces bird specialization, Pollock likes to work with small birds rather than focusing on the great blue herons or herons that are dotted in the Florida wetlands.
Creating microenvironments
“I really love the tiny little guys,” says Pollock. “I’m trying to get them into so-called micro-environments. When you see these large waders, they fill a landscape and dominate a pond or marshland. The warblers have to be on the ground to see them, and I show them in their microenvironment to get a broader sense of how the refuge in the background falls away. ”
Pollock pulls a blank sheet of paper from the end of his kitchen counter and attaches it to a piece of plywood. He hangs up photographs of both the foliage and the bird he wants to paint, then turns his canvas around to approach the watercolor from different angles. He admits he used to rush through paintings in his youth, but now it will take several days or weeks to finish a work.
For “Pine Warbler in Palmettos” he took several photos of the lower plants in the undergrowth, as the pine warblers are more likely to be found in these areas. In the background he was sure to capture the distant landscape beyond the swamp. Pollock says he spends a lot of time working on the scale to get the birds just right.
“I create a design with the plants I am photographing and place that bird more or less in situ to show what that bird is like in the real world,” says Pollock. “I scale a lot and draw the bird in different sizes and then cut it out to position in the work so that I know its size in relation to the background.”
Birds are the stars
The result makes the birds the star of every work, perfectly placed in their micro still life. While teaching watercolor courses at the Refuge a few years ago, Pollock met the new president of the Tallahassee Watercolor Society, Jennifer Lange. He decided to join and started officially putting his pictures in exhibitions.
In Pollock’s very first show with the company, he won the First Award of Excellence. He feels humble that his work with paintings by other talented artists is hanging in the current Brush Strokes exhibition and hopes that visitors will enjoy the variety of the paintings.
“Tallahassee has such a talent for watercolor and a great variety of style and quality,” says Pollock, who is grateful to be involved in the art scene.
“Whenever I am in a desperate state, painting and visiting the refuge changes my mood, my expectations for the future, my celebration of life. I feel happy doing these things and at no point do I take it for granted. ”
Amanda Sieradzki is a columnist for the Council on Culture & Arts. COCA is the umbrella agency for art and culture in the capital region (www.tallahasseearts.org).
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Phillip Pollock’s name.
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When you go
What: 2021 Brush Strokes Tallahassee Watercolor Society Members Exhibition
When: 8 am-5pm Monday-Friday until November 15th
Where: City Hall Art Gallery, 300 South Adams Street
Costs: Free and public
Contact: For more information, please call 850-224-2500. This exhibition can also be seen in the COCA online gallery. To learn more about Phillip Pollock, visit woodlandwatercolor.com.
The post The artist's love for the "little boys" helps "highlight the refuge" first appeared on Daily Florida Press.
from Daily Florida Press https://dailyfloridapress.com/the-artists-love-for-the-little-boys-helps-highlight-the-refuge/
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