The Shelburne Art Center’s Harbor Road Gallery welcomes oil painter Mathew Pardue this February.
Born in Peekskill, New York, and raised in Sarasota, Florida, Pardue’s earliest memories of art come from three distinct familial influences: his father, a formidable botanist, friend and collector of pop artist Peter Max; his mother, who encouraged Pardue’s craft skills at a very early start; and his Grandmother Bee, with whom he would walk through the woods on the hunt for wild mushrooms. This early esthetic experience influences Pardue’s continued interest in capturing Vermont’s landscapes—and its flora in particular—in his oil paintings.
Trained at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota and the Burren College of Art in Clair, Ireland, Pardue’s degree in illustration is clearly reflected in his style, in which each painting, as if out of a picture book, seems to tell a unique story.
Says Pardue: “Art is something that I always loved, however I learned from the start it was terribly difficult to make…after about fifteen years in a kitchen (started when I was sixteen), I wanted to take a run at painting. Painting in a way that is “me,” and now I’m continuing my path toward mastery of oil painting.”
The opening reception for Mathew Pardue’s show will take place on Friday, February 4th from 5:00pm-7:00pm at the Shelburne Art Center, 64 Harbor Road, Shelburne. For more information visit our website at www.shelburneartcenter.org.
