Along the Road

Bill Jersey and Michael Schweigart bring together two different approaches to painting the landscape, and their impact together is dynamic. Bill’s bold impressionistic color harmonies and broad brushwork excite the senses, and his color and light patterns create complex compositions. While Michael’s palette is subtle with natural colors blending light and shadow that build texture and develop detail. “Along the Road” brings together the best of both styles with compelling scenes of their time and places.

Bill Jersey - Reflections on a Life in the Arts. My life has been blessed with opportunities of engagement with an array of people and places – from farmers in the Georgian Republic to the Contras of Nicaragua to youngsters on the streets of Harlem. I spent my filmmaking career documenting the stories of people in their unique settings. Through the lens of my 16mm camera, light and composition and accuracy were essential to capturing stories. Retired from filmmaking, I picked up a paintbrush in place of the camera. In plein air or studio settings I can quietly observe and record with perspective beyond motion picture storytelling. I can imagine and paint the summer’s dance of a tree or the stately elegance of an aging barn next to a tree blooming with new life. Recording with brush and paint has become my poetry and obsession. At 94, I can say that I have been truly privileged to have spent a lifetime in the arts –beginning with my first job out of USC Film School, Art Director of The Blob – to the current time of reflection and creativity. At my last show at Stover Mill I sold a record of 47 paintings.

Michael Schweigart can find inspiration just about anywhere he goes. Like many he has a deep appreciation for nature and delights in taking the road less traveled whenever possible. Scenes of coastal Maine and parts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey make up the bulk of his work. Schweigart’s studio work is often a composite of recollection, field sketches, and camera images combined to paint specific places, naturalistically. Going from place to place provide him with a variety of scenic views that often include early architecture. The character and customs associated with a particular region are what he enjoys painting. His finished works display rich texture and atmosphere, with a presence of man and a sense of place. Michael has been exhibiting his paintings for most of his adult life in galleries from New York City to South Jersey, Philadelphia and the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, D.C. His paintings have won awards and are included in many public and private collections.