Window view

Peter Nelson paints his world go by

by Leon Nigrosh

PETER NELSON: THROUGH THE SEASONS
At the Fletcher/Priest Gallery, 5 Pratt Street, Worcester, through April 27.

When was the last time you sat down, gazed out your window, and took a good, long look? Peter Nelson does this virtually every day. But not only does he scan his back yard, but also he records his findings and his emotions by making paintings about what he sees, feels, and imagines.

The Fletcher/Priest Gallery is currently showing 10 of Nelson's paintings, a tiny portion of the hundreds of back-yard landscapes he has produced during the past decade. The gallery's intimate surroundings provide the perfect place to view the works; the mood of each piece slowly engulfs you as if you were actually in Nelson's Connecticut home. These paintings require this uninterrupted and undivided attention, partly because Nelson spends a great deal of time developing each composition, and partly because the subtleties within each work need time to be discovered.

We can see his interest in the complexity of composition beginning to form in one of his early paintings Late Sleepers -- the only canvas in the show that includes living beings. Although Nelson includes a portion of the bedroom window, the painting concentrates on his sleeping wife and their dog and cat; the three are snuggled in a bright red-and-white quilt in one section of the divided image. The left portion of the painting concentrates on a cup of morning coffee and the day's newspaper. This juxtaposition of separate spaces soon takes over all of his large canvases; the bright reds evaporate, replaced by sylvan hues, and any likeness of humans simply disappears.

In Endings and Beginnings, Nelson has successfully combined three separate views in one image with simple coloration and a calming mood. The work might first appear to be a triptych of two exteriors surrounding an interior. It is, however, a single composition that he, through the subtle use of color, has trisected to give simultaneous views of the tree-filled yard and of a Colonial-style parlor. It is important to note the various intersections of line and color, which, among other nuances, make the outdoor tile-topped table become the oak desk and the window frame turn into the porch balustrade. It is spatial shifts like these that bring an element of mystery to his work. In almost Cubist-like fashion, he incorporates several views of the same scene, but with such a sure sense of "rightness" that is not jarring but soothing and relaxing.

Although people may have been banished from his compositions, Nelson fills his canvases with reminders these images are our environs. In the deftly bisected indoor-outdoor canvas All Gifts, Jim's Good Remy, the presence of humans is made obvious through the placement of a glass vase filled with fresh white flowers that plays against the garden greenery. With a colorful trivet, the vase competes for attention with the lawn, and, of course, with the near-empty brandy snifter.

About two years ago, Nelson made a shift, both technically and psychologically, in his approach. Several paintings from his continuing "Broken Bridge Chronicles" are included in the exhibition. Although the subject is still the changing of the seasons viewed just outside his house, these paintings are much more fragmented and include images of growth above and below the ground. Instead of recording an actual scene, Nelson concentrates more on the metaphysical activities that constitute the continual cycles of nature, producing softer, more abstract imagery.

To develop these storyboards of nature's elements, Nelson has eschewed canvas in favor of wood panels. He first paints the background in rectangular shades of seasonal color, and then places smaller panels on top, moving them around until they create a rhythmic pattern. The Broken Bridge Chronicles #57 ARBOR consists of a large panel shaded with soft greens, blue-gray, and rose, on top of which are six small units painted in broken colors. The work is rife with enigmatic inference; as the cryptic entities depicted seem to change places, real shadows become painted and vice versa. Yet, instead of chaos, there is a soothing feeling.

As these few works indicate, Nelson, professor emeritus of art at Quinsigamond Community College, embodies an unwavering personal integrity. For more than 30 years his paintings have neither been market driven, nor have they pandered to the latest fads. He is true to himself, dedicated to his art, and confident in his capacity to create paintings. These windows that open onto his back yard can, with little effort on our part, become windows that open up our lives.

The gallery is open Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 6 p.m. and by appointment. Call 791-5929.