At Scott Lance’s gallery classical music pouring out of an iPod,
and a stack of hard drives sit near a small oil painting of garlic
and egg plant.
At Scott Lance’s gallery classical music pouring out of an iPod, and a stack of hard drives sit near a small oil painting of garlic and egg plant.
That’s because the local portrait artist stands at the threshold of classic art and digital photography, the past and the present.
Whether its the “Naughty Dog” perched over the orange petals of uprooted California poppies, a stroke-heavy landscape painting of a Hecker Pass vineyard during autumn, or a poised, glossy-lipped woman donning a red dress, Lance portrays his many subjects with one simple goal in mind.
“The only obligation of art is to touch emotions,” Lance said at his studio-cum-gallery at the corner of Fifth and Eigleberry streets Thursday morning. “I know I’m doing my job when people cry.”
Lance, 52, grew up in Gilroy and has rented his second-floor downtown studio since 2006. Before that he worked out of Carmel for four years, where he was Wednesday photographing pelicans for a painting he’s still working out in his mind, he said.
Lance refined his symbiotic understanding of art – the way his often digitally based paintings still reflect a centuries-old oil technique – during his 20 years as a creative director and graphic designer for computer hard drive companies. He always painted at night throughout the years, he said, but now the two worlds coexist in his studio, as evidenced by the expensive commercial printer he has in the room next to his wooden, sun-lit easel.
When he’s not painting, Lance reads about Leonardo da Vinci and teaches. His four students leave their works-in-progress – and driblets of paint – on the U-shaped table in the middle of his carpeted gallery. Both of Lance’s parents were artists and teachers, he said, and all the angel statues gracing his gallery’s nooks gave the professional space a homey, living-room feel.
Lance even treats his landlord like family. He painted a monochromatic portrait from an old, tattered Polaroid of the man as a child gazing at a choppy river with his much taller father, two fishing poles jammed into the rocky bank underneath a sky of cotton-ball clouds. It was part of the rent agreement, Lance said.
Aside from his oil painting classes and private commissions, such as the portrait he’s painting now of area garlic king Don Christopher – Lance also teaches photography. He planned to spend Thursday afternoon at the Gilroy Hot Springs with a few students.
About visiting Lance:
Lance welcomes visitors anytime as long as they phone ahead because his gallery is also his studio, he said. His number is 893-8143 and his gallery is located at 7494 Eigleberry St.
