Fine Art Retail Art Event Space Downtown Panama City, Florida GALLERY IS OPEN 11am - 5pm Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday UNDERGLASS FRAMERY IS OPEN 11am - 5pm, M-F Very Open, always Free! Closed Sunday, Monday & Tuesday
Opening Reception & meet the artist 5 - 7pm, Thursday October 10, 2024 On Show through November 16
One day, many years ago, while digging through the art section of my local library, I came upon a book: a collection of the wordless woodcut novels of Lynd Ward titled Storyteller Without Words. I was mesmerized by what I saw: the content and the striking graphic images. It impacted me in such a way that I knew that I had to give block printing a try. And so I began to do woodcuts and linocuts in addition to my paintings.
Unlike the wordless sequential picture narratives Ward created, I chose to incorporate words in many of my pieces, using the letters as lines and shapes and meaning.
Because of my love for music, one of my first attempts with the relief printing process was the 1920s delta blues guitar virtuoso Robert Johnson (In this exhibition, titled, The Legend of Robert Johnson). The block was printed onto a yellowed, handmade tobacco paper, giving it a nostalgic quality I liked. The history of the blues became an idea for a series, and I continue to add to it occasionally.
I eventually portrayed people in other music genres—classic rock, jazz, and country—with each change providing me with new challenges in the block printing medium; for example, the rock and roll series required more color, and subsequently, more blocks needed carving, one for each color. Each block is run through the printing press,creating multiple layers of color until the image is completed.
There are other ways to create colored prints that I use:1. Painting with transparent watercolor over oil-based inks, for example, Roll out the Barrel, Buskin’ & Blessin’, and others.2. The reduction block printing method: A technique that uses only one block that is carved multiple times and printed after each carving. For example, Leadbelly’s Lament and Sings With Angels: The Mystery of Washington Phillips.3. Puzzle-piece blocks: Separate blocks that fit together like a puzzle that are inked separately with different colors, then pieced back together and printed in one pass, for example, The Crucifixion and The Last Supper.
In 2013, following the shock of the Sandy Hook School shootings, I set out to do a series on saints and mystics influenced by traditional Orthodox iconography. My New Year’s resolution was to carve one prayer portrait per week. A resolution that I kept! The series of 52 prints became the book Light from Darkness, with the proceeds donated to orphanages. I didn’t want evil to have the final say.
I felt the block print was the perfect medium for this project. If an un-carved rectangular block gets printed, all you will see is a black rectangle. However, with each gouge into the block, “light” is carved from darkness. Each print in this series depicted a prayer of hope and light alongside the face of the saint who spoke the words. I revived the Saints and Mystics series in 2020 as the world hibernated during the pandemic. I wanted to see how the desert fathers and mothers, the Christian spiritual athletes of the 4th century, navigated self-imposed isolation in the Egyptian desert. Again, with the George Floyd murder, I turned my attention to the spiritual heroes who overcame prejudice through non-violent means. All these prints, and others, have come to form my recently published book, Everything Could Be A Prayer: 100 Portraits of Saints and Mystics (Broadleaf Books, 2024). While I don’t consider myself a portrait artist (at least not in the traditional sense), this body of work still features people—figures and faces. Presented are men and women of different ethnicities from diverse geographical locations with different backgrounds and talents who have their own stories to tell. Some of them you may know, others I will introduce you to. While viewing these prints, I hope you see not only the line, shape, and color in the composition, but also the joy, sorrow, love, and beauty in each individual—what it truly means to be human. ~ Kreg Yingst
I felt the block print was the perfect medium for this project. If an un-carved rectangular block gets printed, all you will see is a black rectangle. However, with each gouge into the block, “light” is carved from darkness. Each print in this series depicted a prayer of hope and light alongside the face of the saint who spoke the words. I revived the Saints and Mystics series in 2020 as the world hibernated during the pandemic. I wanted to see how the desert fathers and mothers, the Christian spiritual athletes of the 4th century, navigated self-imposed isolation in the Egyptian desert. Again, with the George Floyd murder, I turned my attention to the spiritual heroes who overcame prejudice through non-violent means. All these prints, and others, have come to form my recently published book, Everything Could Be A Prayer: 100 Portraits of Saints and Mystics (Broadleaf Books, 2024). While I don’t consider myself a portrait artist (at least not in the traditional sense), this body of work still features people—figures and faces. Presented are men and women of different ethnicities from diverse geographical locations with different backgrounds and talents who have their own stories to tell. Some of them you may know, others I will introduce you to. While viewing these prints, I hope you see not only the line, shape, and color in the composition, but also the joy, sorrow, love, and beauty in each individual—what it truly means to be human. ~ Kreg Yingst
“Probably the most encouraging experience that awaits every young artist, as he opens that first door into the world of art and begins a journey of exploration that seems to lead finally only to another closed door, is the realization that, in the end, there is no truly final answer to the simple question ‘What is art?’”~ Lynd Ward
Kreg Yingst (BA Trinity University, MA Eastern Illinois University) is an artist, illustrator, and author. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions, and his works have been collected internationally. In 2015, Pensacola State College honored him with a twenty-five year retrospective. His paintings and block prints are in numerous private and public collections, including Purdue University, The Halsey Contemporary Museum of Art, Cinco Banderas (Northwest Council of the Arts), and Templeton Honors College, Eastern University in St. Davids, PA.
Kreg is the author and illustrator of numerous books which include Everything Could Be A Prayer: 100 Portraits of Saints and Mystics, The Psalms in 150 Block Prints, The Way of the Cross in Woodcuts, and Birthing the Holy (Christine Valters Paintner).Kreg lives with his wife Sherri in Pensacola, Florida.
Kreg is the author and illustrator of numerous books which include Everything Could Be A Prayer: 100 Portraits of Saints and Mystics, The Psalms in 150 Block Prints, The Way of the Cross in Woodcuts, and Birthing the Holy (Christine Valters Paintner).Kreg lives with his wife Sherri in Pensacola, Florida.
His new book will be available at the
Opening Reception & during the exhibition.Everything Could Be a Prayer:
100 Portraits of Saints & Mystics
Holiday ArtWalk Saturday noon to 6:00pm November 2
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PUBLIC EYE SOAR outside on the buildings at Gulf Coast State College November 8th & 9th
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CALL TO ARTISTS
2024 Art to the MAX. Guidelines and submission dates to come soon.
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goa photo connection + Photo Exhibition
"If my husband will allow me to work, I'm going to open an art gallery."
– Mary Ola Miller, 1966
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The Gallery of Art THEN & NOW
Mary Ola Miller was the cultural 'go to' person for decades in Panama City, FL. Mary Ola Miller began the Gallery of Art in 1966, she ran her gallery from 1970 until her passing in 2011.
Kim Griffin White & Mark White became owners of the Gallery of Art in April, 2023 and continue to engage and welcome all things creative and cultural in our artistic coastal community.
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