Gallery Exhibit & Opening Reception

Opening Reception

“302 – Sue’s Garden” by Artist Glen Biggs

Saturday May 12^th 5 – 7 pm

Bio:  Glen is a native of Franklin, Kentucky where he graduated from Franklin-Simpson High School in the class of 1980.   Growing up, Glen could usually be found riding bikes and roaming the banks of Drakes Creek in the Salmons community of north Simpson County.  Living in Salmons also meant that you, and every other kid in this part of Simpson County, marched with the Kentucky Bells and Colonels under the direction of Willie and Evelyn Cornwell.  Willie and Evelyn truly valued and modeled the importance of community.  Fast forward…the past 20+ years Glen has lived in West Nashville with his lifetime partner, Johnny Woodard.  Glen is the Senior Associate Director of Alignment Nashville/Alignment USA, a national non-profit organization that specializes in aligning community resources to support the goals of local public education systems.  Most of Glen’s off time is still spent riding bikes, cooking and in the studio painting.  Glen began his journey of painting in 2008 under the guided hand of long time friend and mentor, Susan Scaletta and continues still today.   Glen would describe his current style of painting as mostly nature-inspired abstract expressionist using watercolor and graphite as his first choice of mediums.

Artist Statement:  This body of work is called 302 which has been my family’s address in Salmons since the early 1970’s.   It was Sue’s (Mom) earthly sanctuary on so many levels and for so many years.  Anyone who knew Mom can tell you that she was an avid gardener with a mega passion for irises and day lilies along with a vast pallet of color.  She was always eager to share and trade bulbs with anyone.  Sue’s gardens were her canvases and she created on those canvases every minute that she possibly could.   Gardening was her meditation.  When Lisa invited me to do this show last spring, I excitedly accepted then immediately froze…..what in the world would I possibly paint about?  Paintings, to me, are meant to convey something, tell a story.  Art is about a feeling, a sentiment, a place, a thing, a moment….but it should be about or from something.  Also, what I paint and what the viewer perceives in or from the painting don’t always have to be the same.  It’s about the emotion that the art piece brings alive for you, the viewer.  In this collection I challenged myself in trying to capture the “essence, the emotion” of Sue’s gardens.  302 has been the biggest artist challenge of my life, but it has also been a beautiful journey that I felt has been guided by Sue’s enormous spirit, her love for place and her inspiring gardens.  Come and enjoy.