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Show Woodward Payne mixes flying with art .in, i li nun mmmmmmmm ll I jii iiiniii . Jiiiuimu.iii mi l nui I i I in w mmmmm"lm'mll,mmmmm'm&- '" " W - , 4 , i -l. it r JV by IUck Brough Woodward Payne is not one of those Sunday painters who just hops in the car and drives out to the country. To render his landscapes, he takes to the air or sails down the white water. Payne's exhibit, currently hanging in the Main Gallery at the Kimball Art Center, often shows a bird's-eye view. That's because Payne is an avid flier, and many of his paintings are based on some of the 20,000 slides he's photographed from the air. "It's been a matter of tying my two loves together," toge-ther," he said. Payne has painted since childhood, and he has flown since the age of 13. "For five years, I did nothing but aerial views" he said. Some of his works at Kimball also depict canyon walls or desert mountains. These were derived from a trip he took down the Grand Canyon two years ago with 36 other artists. "It was the best ten days of my life." In his early days as an artist, his art was less grounded in reality. "I was much more abstract, ethereal, ethe-real, design-oriented," he said. He turned to more literal subjects after he started working with photography. photo-graphy. And yet, it's very important, impor-tant, he said, that his work doesn't look like photography. photo-graphy. His landscapes often have a strong abstract quality. "There's nothing more abstract thannature," he said. ' "I like paint to look like 1 - A watercolor by Woodward Payne, 'Medocino Rocks'. paint," he continued. "I like the physicality of paint. The subject matter is secondary." secon-dary." However, an important impor-tant goal for him is to strike a balance between the two. His subjects are large-cities large-cities and great rock canyons and suitably his paintings are often large too. He said he "tightens up" somewhat working with a smaller space. Payne, an Arizona native, taught art for 16 years at Mason Community College and Arizona State University near Phoenix. He's flown around the United State's twice, but until recently most of his subject matter concerned concern-ed the Southwest. The seascapes in the Kimball exhibit testify to the fact he moved to California about four years ago. He said his reason was simple: to get out of the heat. And besides, he notes, he's an avid sailor. Payne said he has an exhibit coming up in Los Angeles this July 7, and a San Francisco show next spnng. For his future subjects, he wants to paint landscapes from southern Utah and the Rocky Mountains. He might just include Park City. "I've wanted to do a ski area," he said. The Woodward Payne exhibit ex-hibit runs at the Kimball through June 28. |