The 13th Annual Juried Art Exhibit at the Jan Dempsey Community Arts Center brought together the best of Auburn's local artists.
Jan Dempsey offers artists a chance to submit their work to a panel of judges for review. This year, Hugh Williams selected the 27 works shown in the exhibit with the nine merit awards being selected by Marilyn Laufer.
Williams has worked at Auburn University for more than three decades and is currently an Alumni professor Emeritus of Art. Laufer is the director of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art and holds a doctorate in Art History from Washington University.
One standout artist currently being showcased is Bob Ekelund Ph.D., a former economics professor at Auburn University, for his pastel "Summer Nocturne, Taos."
Jan Dempsey isn't the only one celebrating 13 years. This year will mark the 13th time Ekelund has showcased art at the exhibition.
"I was born with a Crayola in my hand," Ekelund said. " I've always enjoyed sketching, painting, making posters and have painted off and on my whole life."
Ekelund has always had a passion for art, but it was a watercolor class in 1989 at Auburn that got him back in the swing of things.
"I like to change mediums," he said. "I like landscape. I'm a landscape painter, although I've done some still life and figure drawing."
While he does occasionally paint watercolors, it is pastels and oils that have captured his heart.
"The picture that happens to be in the Jan Dempsey now is a pastel," Ekelund said. "It's the painting I'm most proud of."
Finding inspiration can sometimes prove problematic for an artist, but Ekelund knows exactly what he is aiming for before the first stroke of his brush.
"I have an idea before I put anything on a canvass," he said. "For about 15 years, every summer, I have gone to Taos, NM, and painted there, sketched and took photographic references and brought them home."
But it is not easy achieving the perfect look. Ekelund first observes, puts himself in the scene, sketches, takes hundreds photographs, then works diligently in his home studio creating a composition.
"My inspiration is Edward Hopper," he said. " I really like his very sparse landscapes, there's a sense of modernity and loneliness in them, and that's what I'm aiming for."
The painting currently being shown at the Jan Dempsey rivals that of Hopper, and is considered by Ekelund to be the best painting he has ever done.
Ekelund certainly is qualified when it comes to art. Beginning in 2006, he was the acting co-director for the Jule Collins Smith Museum for a year.
Aside from being named a merit award winner this year at Jan Dempsey, Gallery One in Cloverdale, Montgomery, showcases his work with a show coming this November.
Ekelund isn't just a phenomenal artist, but is also a collector, plays classical piano and is a published author.
His advice to young artists is just to follow your dreams and take chances with every opportunity even though you may not receive the desired results all the time.
"I like economics, but I've always had an artistic leaning," he said. "You have to follow your passion. You have to follow your interests. We are always better at the things we like to do."
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