American Art Collector Article | Charleston Artist LePrince

UPCOMING SHOW PREVIEW / CHARLESTON, SC

October 1-31, 2014

K E V I N L E P R I N C E

Gone fishing

Life in Charleston, South Carolina continues to inform the representational paintings of Kevin LePrince. His latest body of work on show throughout October focuses on boats, the sea and those who make their livelihood on the waterways.

“I grew up here so I don't know how not to paint that. There's an endless supply of imagery around Charleston,“ LePrince reflects. “I enjoy painting boat. To me boats are romantic...there's something unique about them.. there's a certain allure about boats and water. It can provide for a lot of entertainment as well as income for those who work on the water.”

Although the artist tends to paint in a fairly loose, impressionistic style, with this grouping he has taken it even further by experimenting with more tonal values and a more muted palette, specifically Portland grays. The new piece titled Casting of two men retrieving a cast net embodies this development.

“It's a very monochromatic painting, but it's very muted, and a lot of that was accomplished with the Portland grays. It has a neat texture to it,” LePrince remarks. “The coolest thing about the grays, once you paint in more tonal values it has to be darker or lighter than what's beside it... you have to be more conscious of the values.”

While most of the paintings in the show at Kevin LePrince Studio are based in and around Charleston, a few scenes come from a recent trip he and his wife took to Costa Rica. “But,” says LePrince, “the imagery is all connected through water and life on the water.”

The sunset piece titles Quepos is representative of his vacation in Central America. Of the painting he says, “I like that it shows the boats at the end of the day and they're at rest, and there's some action in the harbor.”

A reception for LePrince's solo show, title Gone Fishing, will be held October 3 from 3 to 5pm.

“Kevin's wonderful painting Together Again now hangs happily in our Nantucket home. We admire its loveliness and smile at its cleverness. Charleston comes to Fog Island.” - Franci and Jim Crane, collectors, Houston, Texas