Fay and Sarah Kay

Typically I embrace storms as grand adventures. However, this time around, I was just ready for some sunshine. Which is why, on Saturday night, when artist Sarah Kay’s show opened at Three Layers in Springfield, I couldn’t drag my sorry carcass out.

The next day though, there was enough sunshine to connvince me to leave my nest. And when I did, I wished that I had been able to attend the opening. Sarah Kay isn’t just an artist, she’s possibly one of the nicest, most optimistic people I know, and this is reflected in her sunny-side-up kind of drawings.

Her work, highly graphic and comic-esque, is clearly the work of an artist at the begining of her career. However, unlike other fledgling artists, Kay has already made the distinct decision to work within a framework of style and theme. As her friend, I have pawed through her works with her, and offered totally unsolicited advice, but I think the most notable thing about her Three Layers show, is the editorial eye she brought to bear on her own work.

Unlike many artists (emerging and otherwise), she has been able to select works that not only hang together well, but that reflect her vision most accurately. Of special note, the piece Lily Houses (top); here she is beginning to use the entire page as a platform for pattern and repition. She takes the focus off of one simplified form, and arranges it in a manner that recalls Dow-esque rules of pattern. It is an aesthetically sastisfying solution that she can then apply to other drawings and ideas.

That being said, Kay still has alot of work to do (more texture and resolving her backgrounds are areas that need improvement), but I am confident that with time, she’ll do it.

*incidentally, Three Layers is a really wonderful addition to Springfield. Located at 6th and Pearl streets, the shop is warm, and welcoming, with really fantastic drinks and a staff that makes you feel right-at-home. On Sunday when I dropped by, Shrek was playing...