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Jaynise Porter

Professor Behr

Art 160

February 9th, 2020

Gallery Review 1: Fundamentals

My first experience at an art gallery I can say was a unique experience. I attended the

Sahara West Art Gallery. The exhibit I viewed during my visit to the gallery was created by

Jenny Baham. Jenny’s exhibition was titled, “Promised Land”. Upon entering the exhibition I

can say the atmosphere was welcoming and the lighting was sufficient and allowed for a great

view of the pieces. Every wall in the gallery was filled with artwork. Jenny had a good estimate

of about 20 pieces of artwork in the gallery. Jenny’s overall theme was landscape paintings that

depicted National Parks and preserves. In the Promise Land Exhibition, Jenny Baham uses the

basic fundamentals of art to give her audience realistic views of Nevada’s national parks and

preserves.

The first piece of artwork I viewed was titled, “Yosemite Falls”. The Yosemite Falls art

piece is an oil painting creation on a canvas. We see a land scape of Yosemite Valley with

minimal features. Jenny uses a linear perspective creating an illusion of depth giving the viewers

a more realistic view. Aiming our attention to the foreground we a path that begins and stretches

out. On both sides of the path there are trees. Bringing our eyes up from the foreground to the

middle ground we begin to notice how the trees are becoming enclosed, which directs out

attention to the focal point of this painting, the waterfall. The artist created the trees in the

foreground on a larger scale to give us a more realistic view. Comparing the trees in the

foreground to the trees in the background allows us to see the depth in the painting.
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The second piece of artwork I viewed was titled “Yosemite Valley”. Jenny uses a

medium of oil paint on a canvas to capture this beautiful scenery. In this composition Jenny

captures a huge body of water with a good source of light. In the middle ground behind the body

of water are trees and green grass. In the background, sitting behind these trees are mountains in

front of a blue sky. In this composition the source of light is implied. The reflection implied by

the source of light are true to life. The artist depicts the light beaming off the water and reflection

with the use of color, which bring us to the focal point of this piece of artwork, the waterfall. The

overall composition of this piece is balanced. The trees on both sides of the path lead draw

emphasis on the waterfall. Warm colors are predominantly use in the foreground and

background, which creates a sense of peace.

The third piece of artwork viewed by Jenny Baham was titled “Taking the Road Less

Traveled”. This composition is a view at the Joshua Tree National Park with a medium of oil

painting on a canvas. The overall painting is as road leading towards some mountains. On both

sides of the road are trees and bushes on a desert plane. Beginning in the foreground where the

road begins the artist creates a liner perspective. The artist paints curved lines in the road to

depict the cracks in the road. The artist uses implied lines by using the dirt on both sides of the

pavement to imply where the road is, which also gives viewers a linear perspective. Jenny gives

the audience a humanistic perspective, aiming our attention to the foreground you can see the

road is wide and as you begin to look in the middle ground it becomes narrower. Finally as you

reach the background the road is completely invisible. The artist uses an implied source of light

creating shadows off of the trees in the foreground. The predominant colors in this composition

are warm.
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In conclusion, Jenny demonstrates the basic fundamentals of art to capture the viewers

interest by creating a realistic view of Nevada’s national parks and reserves. Jenny is able to

demonstrate the techniques to imply depth in her paintings to give the audience a humanistic

view. Through this experience I was able to view art through another eye and understand how

one technique can relate to another. I was also able to discover the meaning behind different

techniques. Overall, Jenny was able to paint beautiful sceneries of Nevada national parks and

preserves.

“Yosemite Falls”

“Yosemite Valley”
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“Road Less Traveled”