Vose Galleries | Through 12/7 | Boston, MA

Illuminated

Gary Milek’s new egg tempera and gold leaf paintings are on view now at Vose Galleries.

Gary and Sarah Milek acquired land in Vermont in the 1970s and established Cider Hill Gardens, “Where gardening and fine art interact.”

“When I conceptualize,” Gary Milek explains, “I celebrate the joy of putting my hands in the earth, feeling its life-giving force, the smells of springtime, the lush abundance of summer, the vigor and energy of autumn and the frozen crystal beauty of winter. I love the seasons, each one to be celebrated and honored.”Hosta and False Solomon Seal, mixed media, 21 1/8 x 22 1/8"

On an early fall day he mused about a magnolia outside his window that blossomed in early spring and was “still holding on to its green,” obscuring the burgeoning oranges and reds of the fall foliage beyond. Unlike the magnolia, the other trees are beginning to lose their leaves opening the space of the landscape.

Inspired by their gardens and the surrounding mountains and hills, he ventures into the landscape to make sketches and returns to his studio to make “notes in watercolor” and his unique paintings in egg tempera with gold leaf.Spiritual Passage, mixed media, 25¾ x 24 7/8"

Born in Connecticut, he began studying at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art. It was while studying at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and studying the Old Masters at the Rijksmuseum that he became interested in egg tempera. The medium involves mixing pigment with egg yolk and water and painting on a rigid surface. Milek makes his own gesso, which he applies to Masonite panels with supportive cribbing to provide the surface for the tempera.Hear and Now, mixed media, 37 3/8 x 38 7/8"

In his painting Spiritual Passage, he uses the potential of the medium for fine detail in the foreground and watercolor-like forms in the distance. Just as the bare trees open up the landscape, his use of gold leaf opens up the painting. Spiritual Passage has a Japanese spiritual quality in its simplicity and repetition of forms. “As I’m getting older,” he says, “the spiritual quality of life is important.”

The mountain vistas of Vermont give way to a closer examination of the plants he and Sarah grow. Peony Japonica prefers the woodland rather than the bright light of the hills. The plant takes advantage of the spring sun and the summer shade and provides three seasons of beauty—spring flowers, summer greenery and red seedpods in the fall.Peony Japonica, mixed media, 15¾ x 16¾"