The January February show at the Top Shelf Gallery will be “Rough Drafts”, featuring landscapes and images of animals and flowers by Hampton resident Linda Gorman. The show opened the first Wednesday in January with an artist’s reception January 13th.

Gorman works in oils from both sketches and photographs, and she has recently added some mixed media to her work. Much inspiration comes from memories of her extensive travels and from the desert landscapes of Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she was born. Like many painters, she was attracted to art early. “I began the artistic side of life, doodling away on my notebooks as I sat in class,” she said. From there she began copying the Sunday funny papers, winning a small contest in the process. Because her family moved a lot, art, particularly oil painting, became one constant in her life. Later as a military wife, she took advantage of travel in the US and overseas to enlarge her knowledge of the visual arts.

“Over a few deployments, and depending on the duty station, I was able to visit dozens of museums,” she said. Especially important was her husband’s three year tour of duty in London that gave her “a chance to see some of the greatest art in the greatest museums in the world” including favorites like Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Hieronymus Bosch, and Sargeant. More than anything else, though, Gorman credits “the many saved memories that find their way to center stage as I begin the search for a new painting or mixed media piece.”
Janice Trecker