Doug Gerhart picked up his first paintbrush in 1995 while recovering from knee surgery. With the aid of a book “Basics of Oil Painting” and the encouragement of his wife and artist Judy, he soon gravitated to painting the figure. As challenge led to passion, the desire to learn the finer points of the art from accomplished painters became the important next step. In the upcoming exhibit at the Cultural Center, Doug’s figurative works “capture a moment in time, a tender innocence of simple reality that lets the viewer sense the emotion, or, question the thought within the silent language of the figure,” D. Gerhart.
Judy Gerhart was originally a professional portrait and landscape photographer living in California before changing her focus towards oil painting in 1995. Her photographs of nature from around the world provided her with the inspiration needed to create the beauty and essence in her still life and landscape paintings. Growing up in an artistic family, Judy was introduced at an early age to the great European 19th century Post Impressionists which is evident in the thick, bold brush strokes in her recent body of work. Judy and her husband Doug relocated to Ponte Vedra Beach where they now work out of their home studio to create “Natures Beauty, Life’s Pleasures.”