April 25, 2007

Orange County News

Award-winning photographer Richard Ashmore will present a solo exhibition of his work, "Explorations and Discoveries" in the Orange area from Friday, April 27, through May 31.

The gallery opening and reception will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at Pinehurst Gallery. The exhibit there will be one-night-only and all artwork in the will be on display.

After that, part of the exhibit will be on display in the Lamar State College-Orange Library, with the remaining portion at Orange Savings Bank, May 15-30.

Photography in "Explorations and Discoveries" consists of fine art and documentary photographs.

Most notable of Ashmore's work are his digital composite panoramic photographs, which have been described by Cliff Deal, museum director of the Louisiana State Museum-Baton Rouge, as "masterpieces of technical photography." His panoramic images are composed of several photographs seamlessly stitched together producing very large, high-resolution, prints. Many of the photographs span five feet across.

"Deciding on a title for the show was challenging," Ashmore said, "since there is such a large range of styles and topics represented.

"I soon realized that the show is really a depiction of my explorations into the different facets of my interests and their application to fine art and documentary photography and the discoveries I have made about myself along the way. The title 'Explorations and Discoveries' then seemed obvious."

The exhibit will showcase work taken from the southern and southwestern U.S., including areas throughout Texas.

Featured in the show will be the award-winning "Javelina Draw" Black and White 2005," "Windsor Ruins 2002" and images from Ashmore's Hurricane Rita series, among others. Photographs from the Orange area and the debut of new work will also be included.

Ashmore is represented by Pinehurst Gallery in Orange and the Spirit of the West Gallery in Alpine. In the past year he has presented work in 12 exhibits, including three national juried exhibitions, and one solo exhibition at The Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts in Lubbock titled "West Texas Essays in Shadow and Light." Photographs included in "Explorations" can be viewed at Ashmore's Web site www.richardallenashmore.com.

Ashmore, who lives in Ransom Canyon and is a doctorial student in biology at Texas Tech, has had several recent exhibits across the state, including the national juried photography exhibit "Illuminance 2007" in Lubbock where his work "Javelina Draw: Black and White 2005" received a Juror Award equivalent to a best-in-show award.

Currently, a photograph from Ashmore's Hurricane Rita series is on display in another national juried exhibit, "Texas National 2007" at The Art Center in The Old Opera House in Nacogdoches through May 20.

A closing reception for "Explorations" is set for the LSC-O library from 4 to 6 p.m. May 31.