MEGAN LIGHTELL
Megan Lightell, Quiet Creek
Megan Lightell, Sundown Snow
Megan Lightell, stones river sunrise, oil on canvas
Megan Lightell, Silent Snow
Megan Lightell, bells bend evening, oil on canvas
Megan Lightell, Summer Stream
Megan Lightell, fallow fields, oil on canvas
I began painting landscapes out of a longing to return to the comfort, mystery, and silence embodied in the land I knew as a child. I have alternately found myself living in urban and rural settings but regardless of my surroundings, I am compelled to paint land—either as a reflection of my environment or as a depiction of a memory.
It is always a meditation of sorts, recognition of the holiness inherent in the earth. I do not aspire to create paintings that directly represent or imitate my surroundings. I simply attempt to whisper faintly that sound I hear when I am in the right place.
After studying painting at New York’s School of Visual Arts, Megan Lightell returned to the rural imagery of her youth. Her work explores the complex, personal relationship humans have with land. In an increasingly fast-paced and technology-reliant culture, the simple, primal connection to land that sustains life is easily lost. Her imagery tends to lack manmade elements, allowing the viewer to experience a moment of reflection and solitude. She enjoys working with the slow, traditional materials of oil and canvas but approaches each image with a contemporary sensibility. Much of the focus of her life and work is on a connection to land, either in painting or in tending her family’s urban permaculture farm where they grow their own food year-round.
“Rather than painting solely from observation outdoors, working in the studio allows me to recall the resonance of a place, distilling the elements to their essence.”
~ Megan Lightell
CV
MEGAN LIGHTELL
BORN
1979, Coshocton, OH
EDUCATION
2000 BFA, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014 “From These Roots,” SKyPAC, Bowling Green, KY
2014 “Private Landscapes,” Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2013 “Documenting the Landscape,” Pomerene Center for the Arts, Coshocton, OH
2012 Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2012 Gateway Arts Council, Sidney, OH
2010 Matre Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2009 “A Place Within,” River Gallery, Chattanooga, TN
2008 “Sense of Place,” Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2008 “A Quiet View,” Aliya Linstrum, Atlanta, GA 2007 “Mystic Fields,” Hanson Gallery, Knoxville, TN
2007 “Divided,” Flying Solo, Nashville International Airport
2006 “New Works,” Michael Orr Gallery, Columbus, OH
2005 “Landscapes,” Belle Meade Gallery, Nashville, TN
2004 “New Beginnings,” Michael Orr Gallery, Columbus, OH
2004 “Safe Places,” Bockrath Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2003 “New Paintings,” Michael Orr Gallery, Columbus, OH
2000 solo exhibition at Pomerene Center for the Arts, Coshocton, OH
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2016 “Grafted to the Past,” Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Coshocton, OH 2015 “Small Works,” Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2015 Southern Living Showcase Home, Charlottesville, VA 2014 “Blottr,” Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2014 “Essence of the Landscape,” Art Access Gallery, Bexley, OH
2013 “New Work/New Space,” Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2012 “Guest Work,” Ann Long Fine Art, Charleston, SC
2012 “Southern Artists Paint Southern Scenes,” Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2012 “Exhibit Your Symptom,” Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2011 “Inspired by Coshocton,” Johnson-Humrickhouse Museum, Coshocton, OH
2010 “Fresh Air,” Matre Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2009 “Art in Open Spaces,” Terrazzo/Zeitgeist, Nashville, TN
2009 “Draw!” Linstrum + Matre Artworks, Atlanta, GA
2008 “Dialogues: Painting,” Zeitgeist Gallery, Nashville, TN
2007 “New Views,” Aliya Linstrum Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2007 “Altered Vision,” Nashville Public Library 2006 “Small Wonders,” Aliya Linstrum Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2006 “New Works,” Firewalker Gallery, Marshall, NC
2006 “Beauty,” Joanna Burke Consultants at Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, CA
2006 “Grillin & Chillin,” Aliya Linstrum Gallery, Atlanta, GA 2005 ARThouse [06] Atlanta, GA
2005 “New Landscapes,” Michael Orr Gallery, Columbus, OH
2004 “Recent Works,” with Brent Oglesbee, Swanson Reed Contemporary, Louisville, KY
2002 “Standing Their Ground,” Gallery of Franklin, Franklin, TN
2002 “Creating Spaces,” Michael Orr Gallery, Columbus, OH
2001 Ohio Art League Annual Exhibition
2000 “Re-Evolution,” Tribeca Arts Club, New York, NY
1999 “The Visual Letter,” Art Director’s Club, New York, NY
TEACHING/ LECTURE EXPERIENCE
2017 Workshop at Channel to Channel Gallery
2011–12 Workshop series at Pomerene Center for the Arts
2003, 2007 Watkins College of Art and Design, Community EducationDept.
2002 Ohio University, guest lecturer
2000-2002 Artist-in-Residence, Pomerene Center for the Arts, Coshocton, OH
SELECTED COLLECTIONS
Music City Center
FirstBank (The Ayers Foundation)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Fearing’s at the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas
Martha Ingram
Kix and Barbara Brooks
Brown-Forman Group
The Turner Family Foundation
OMS RecordS
Coshocton Public Library
ARTICLES/ REVIEWS/ FEATURES
- “Art Access Gallery: Pastoral Scenes in Paintings Soothe Soul,” The Columbus Dispatch, April 13, 2014, Christopher Yates
- Unconventional– Nashville’s Music City Center, released 2014
- Documenting the Landscape: Views from Coshocton County, exhibition catalog, Pomerene Center for the Arts
- “Wide Open Spaces,” Critic’s Picks, Nashville Scene, April 5, 2012, Joe Nolan
- “Zeitgeist Gallery Looks West with Megan Lightell’s Dramatic Vistas,” The Tennessean, April 1, 2012, Michelle Jones
- “Megan Lightell, Contemporary Tonalist,” Nashville Arts Magazine, March 29, 2012, Daniel Tidwell
- “Variety Makes for Compelling Viewing,” Columbus Dispatch, August 7, 2011, Amy Davis
- Featured on Blog Cabin 2009, DIY Network
- “Flying High,” Southern Living Magazine, June 2007
- ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition, four paintings featured in the Hawkins home, October 2006
- “Summer Painter Becoming One for All Seasons,” Columbus Dispatch, September 2006, Christopher Yates
- “Painter’s Landscapes Reflect Versatility,” Columbus Dispatch, March 2004, Christopher Yates
- “Land Lover,” Cleveland Scene, January 2004, Nadia Michel
- “Landscapes Reveal Portrayer’s Inner Self,” Columbus Dispatch, April 2003, Christopher Yates
- CMYK vol. 15 featured artist
Warm Springs Gallery
12 Katydid Trail
Warm Springs, VA 24484
540.839.2985
Gallery & Cafe Hours
April 1 – December 31, 2021
Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday
11 am – 3 pm
Eigth Annual Bath County
Plein Air Festival
September 27 – October 3, 2021
For seven days artists will paint picturesque scenes throughout Bath County. Visitors and locals will have the unique opportunity to observe artists as they paint on location.