How to go
What: Watercolors by Peter Losh
Where: Centerville Art Gallery, 155 W. Spring Valley Road
When: Continues through Feb. 15
Hours: Staffed 24 hours a day.
More info: (937) 433-7151 or www.ci.centerville .oh.us
Artists are the great observers of life. When Peter Losh would travel east on Ohio 73 to Waynesville with his brother, he collected images along the way that captured his imagination.
The self-described “airport bums” were also pilots, so they were off to the Red Stewart Airfield on North U.S. 42. The images he collected were brought back to his studio and turned into realistic watercolors.
“Strip Mall” captures the Old West look of retail outlets with a red caboose just east of the intersection of Ohio 73 and Ohio 48. “The Birchline” is a wide expanse of birch trees with a blue sky peeking through; he added the couple walking off after a picnic on a blanket. “All Seasons Haven” is a picturesque home on the north side of Ohio 73 with a wall of windows facing south.
“After art school I did some oils, but my main media now is watercolor.
It has a lot of fluidity in it. It’s spontaneous; you can let things flow,” Losh said. “You can let the water do the work for you; the color just floats.”
Losh is showing 20 watercolors in all; a few of them award winners. “Before the Storm” won first place in an Ohio Watercolor Society exhibit in 2005. It is a composite of several elements: the dark, ominous clouds; a lighthouse on a peninsula; and seagulls searching for cover. Three years later, he won first place again for Ohio Watercolor Society with “Study in Silver.” A tall silver pitcher is reflected on a polished surface along with a china teacup. Intricate designs are etched on the silver.
“That piece was hard to do; it took me a long time,” Losh said. “The etching on the pitcher was done with a knife.”
As a World War II Navy veteran, Losh is also presenting several watercolors with military themes. He was on the original crew when the USS Essex carrier was commissioned in 1942. He’s showing the carrier in action, with fighters and torpedo and dive-bombers either leaving or arriving on deck, flanked by destroyers.
“I had a 50-piece show at UD (the University of Dayton) last September called ‘Through the Years,’ ” said Losh. “When I gave a talk before a class, the USS Essex was all they wanted to talk about. This painting here has gotten more attention than anything I’ve ever done.”
Losh received his bachelor of fine arts from UD and also attended the School of the Dayton Art Institute. He worked in advertising until he started his own agency, Losh-Peters and Associates, in 1968. He’s taught watercolor techniques at Riverbend Art Center and DAI. Losh is on the nominating committee for the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
“I have a studio at St. Leonards. They gave me the studio in appreciation of a large-scale watercolor I gave them of the chapel and bell tower,” said Losh, who typically paints up to six hours a day.
Contact contributing arts writer Pamela Dillon at pamdillon@woh.rr.com.
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