By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Color explodes and freezes on a different medium.
Kevin Blair's Freezing, A Retrospective, paintings on plexiglass is the newest exhibit to be featured at the Eleanor and Mowitt Drew Gallery in the Niles District Library.
Blair's pieces will be on display from March 1 – April 23.
The subject matter of the pieces ranges from portraits of Winston Churchill and David Letterman, to fantasy, comic and spiritual themes, and surreal landscapes.
The technique of painting on plexiglas is called freezing. It is called this because the paint is adhered to the plexiglas in one quick application, with the image being frozen to the glass once it is applied.
The interesting part of this process is that the plexiglas is not the original surface that the work is painted on.
The paint is first applied to a hard surface such as formica, and when the work is totally completed, a sheet of plexiglas is laid over the top while the paint is still wet and then slowly removed as to not damage the look of the work.
Once the sheet of plexiglas has been removed the work is complete.
Blair is a resident of Niles who has worked in several different forms of art.
His artistic influences are drawn from works by artists such as Salvador Dali, Max Ernest, Oscar Domingus and Joan Miro.
Blair is also a composer, with his main instrument being the acoustic guitar. He writes songs and instrumentals of various folk idioms, that carry a unique message.
The Eleanor and Mowitt Drew Gallery is located in the Niles District Library's Rotunda. The exhibition can be viewed during regular library hours: Monday-Friday 9 a.m.-8 p.m. and Friday-Saturday 9 a.m-5 p.m.