Wild Rose Gallery
301 E. Cavalry Rd.
PO Box 2158
Fort Davis, Texas 79734
713-557-4147
Hours: typically 10-5 Daily
The Beginnings, Jan, 2014
Progress
Interior in 2018
As seen above, the gallery began as a rather typical metal building that was in use as a shop and a place that junk went to hang out. At the time of the photo, most of the plunder had been removed.
Framing for the ceiling and interior walls allowed for 12 inches of fiberglass insulation, which was in addition to the existing blanket insulation beneath the roof, and foam insulation I applied to the walls.
The cost of extra insulation has translated into very low heating and cooling costs. A single 1500 watt space heater was adequate to heat the gallery, but last year I installed a 12K mini-split AC / heat pump that now heats and cools the gallery.
The gallery opened in Feb, 2015, with somewhat lighter gray interior than present. Additionally, I installed a partition down the center in early 2019 that provides more display space.
The interior is a fairly dark gray, which combines with my use of black frames and gray mats which means about the only color present is the photographs. Bright white walls can influence the values we perceive in an image, just as colorful surroundings can. That applies also to white mats which affect the way we see values in a photo.
Why should we control the lighting when we edit images, and why has Photoshop moved to an interface dominated by grays, yet paint gallery wall bright white?
Mural on Gallery
I painted this mural on the gallery based on one of my photographs. The intent was to encourage folks to come into my otherwise not so appealing gallery.
I installed a panel on the ribbed metal wall, and then at night I projected the image onto the panel. The sky is quite light gray, the foreground rather dark gray, and the intermediate values were mixed from those two colors.
It is really interesting that what appears to be gradations in the values is actually just perception. Each section is one solid value.
I have a slot cut into a piece of cardboard, that when placed on the mural proves that the perceived gradations do not exist.
For some interesting stuff to ponder, click here.
your casual host
The photo above is a reasonable likeness of the gallery host.
Not so much a photo of me, but it demonstrates the “Art” glass I use to frame my work. It is a coated glass, that greatly reduces reflections. To me, any image just seems more enjoyably viewed when reflections are reduced or eliminated.
I do not favor glossy prints or standard glass, and don’t understand galleries that display pricey framed work under standard glass.
The better glass also adds UV protection.
This photo also helps show how the gray walls, along with black frames and gray mats help the images to stand out in their surroundings.