ARTIST STATEMENT
My work is all about sunlight, the play of light on objects, the varying degrees of contrast between light and shadow, and deep, saturated color. Long shadows cast by buildings, window reflections, and pockets of darkness under eaves and in doorways all capture my attention.
I am exploring more, however, than the mere play of light and shadow on architectural form. I am drawn most often to older commercial buildings, early to mid 20th century bungalows squatting amidst tired or overgrown landscaping, dilapidated outbuildings and, everywhere, careworn campers, tottering on blocks, abandoned in fields or parked on the side of the road. Each building, each camper, every eccentric landscaping scheme has a story to ponder.
I believe that we have an unconscious capacity to visually weed out many elements in our environment that displease us or disrupt our sense of beauty and balance. It is easy to edit out the ubiquitous telephone poles and wires, yet it is exactly those details that focus my attention most keenly. We are continually assaulted by visual discordance in our increasingly chaotic and over-populated world, and I am not alone in lamenting the lack of cohesion and creative vision in our attempts to control, sculpt and manage our environment. However, brilliant light, deep shadows, strong color and repetitive forms and patterns never fail to lend interest to even the most mundane subjects and are the very elements that best describe and define my work.
My work is all about sunlight, the play of light on objects, the varying degrees of contrast between light and shadow, and deep, saturated color. Long shadows cast by buildings, window reflections, and pockets of darkness under eaves and in doorways all capture my attention.
I am exploring more, however, than the mere play of light and shadow on architectural form. I am drawn most often to older commercial buildings, early to mid 20th century bungalows squatting amidst tired or overgrown landscaping, dilapidated outbuildings and, everywhere, careworn campers, tottering on blocks, abandoned in fields or parked on the side of the road. Each building, each camper, every eccentric landscaping scheme has a story to ponder.
I believe that we have an unconscious capacity to visually weed out many elements in our environment that displease us or disrupt our sense of beauty and balance. It is easy to edit out the ubiquitous telephone poles and wires, yet it is exactly those details that focus my attention most keenly. We are continually assaulted by visual discordance in our increasingly chaotic and over-populated world, and I am not alone in lamenting the lack of cohesion and creative vision in our attempts to control, sculpt and manage our environment. However, brilliant light, deep shadows, strong color and repetitive forms and patterns never fail to lend interest to even the most mundane subjects and are the very elements that best describe and define my work.
RESUME
EDUCATION
1981 BA, Art History, Harvard University
1977/79 Morehead Fellow, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
EXHIBITIONS
2024 The Cityscape Show XIV, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Seattle Art Fair with Billis Williams Gallery, Seattle WA
2024 San Francisco Art Fair with Billis WIlliams Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 The Cityscape Show XIII, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Rhode Island Watercolor Society, The Limited Palette/On line show
2019 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Solo Show
2018 Group Exhibition, J. Willott Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2018 Thick as Thieves, G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2018 Centers of Gravity, Permanent Collection Exhibition, Shoreline, WA
2017 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Solo Show
2017 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
2017 Food Art Invitational, Seattle, WA
2016 American Painting Today, Sponsored by Hedreen Gallery, Seattle, WA
2016 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Group Show
2016 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Group Show
2016 American Road Trip, SITE:Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Prize
2015 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
2015 On the Road, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015 Mrs. Goldberg, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2014 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
2013 Sugar Rush, En Em Artspace, Sacramento, CA
2013 Suburbia, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA/Solo Show
2013 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle WA
2012 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
2012 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton, WA
2012 Contained, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2012 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2012 Damage Control, Gage Academy of Art, Seattle, WA
2011 Museo Gallery, Langley, WA/Solo Show
2011 Art Port Townsend, Northwind, Port Townsend, WA/Merit Award
2011 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton, WA
2011 Material World, Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
2011 Saints & Sinners, Museo Gallery, Langley, WA
2010 Home, DIGS, Bellingham, WA/Solo Show
2010 Dwelling, Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA
2010 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
2010 Sweet Laurette’s, Port Townsend, WA/Solo Show
2010 Safe Harbor, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2010 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2010 Bainbridge Island Public Library, Bainbridge Island, WA
2009 Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
2009 Department of Ecology, Olympia, WA
2009 Envision Cascadia, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2009 Sweet Laurette’s, Port Townsend, WA/Solo Show
2009 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2008 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA/Merit Award
2008 Strait Art, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2008 Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
2024 The Experience of a Better Suburbia: The Suburban Landscape Paintings of Terry Leness | PLACE Curated
2021 Splash, Jihyun, Woo, Wisdom House Publishers, Seoul, 2021
2018 New American Paintings, Supplement
2017 The Seattle Times, April 19, 2017, “Please Don’t Eat the Art,” by Bethany Jean Clement
2015 Seattle Magazine, vol. 24, no. 9, September 2015, pg. 123
2015 City Arts, October 2015, pg. 3, http://cityartsonline.com/articles/beautiful-gloom
2014 New American Paintings, no. 115, Pacific Coast
2014 Cover art, The Stranger
2013 The Seattle Times, December 20, 2013, “Suburbia: Dream or Nightmare?” by Michael Upchurch, pg. 23.
2013 International Artist, No. 92, August/September 2013, “The Power of Notan in Landscape Composition” by Mitchell Albala, pg. 50.
2013 Studio Visit, Volume 19
2010 On Center, JULY-OCTOBER 2010, Vol. XXII, No. 4
2010 Studio Visit, Volume 9
2010 On Center, MARCH-MAY 2010, Vol. XXII, No. 2
2009 On Center, SUMMER/FALL 2009, Vol. XXI, No. 4
2009 The Leader, JUNE 10, 2009, Issue 23/Vol. 120
2008 On Center, MAR-MAY 2008, Vol. XX, No. 2
RESIDENCIES
2012 Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY
2010 Centrum, Port Townsend, WA
1981 BA, Art History, Harvard University
1977/79 Morehead Fellow, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
EXHIBITIONS
2024 The Cityscape Show XIV, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Seattle Art Fair with Billis Williams Gallery, Seattle WA
2024 San Francisco Art Fair with Billis WIlliams Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023 The Cityscape Show XIII, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Rhode Island Watercolor Society, The Limited Palette/On line show
2019 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Solo Show
2018 Group Exhibition, J. Willott Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2018 Thick as Thieves, G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2018 Centers of Gravity, Permanent Collection Exhibition, Shoreline, WA
2017 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Solo Show
2017 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
2017 Food Art Invitational, Seattle, WA
2016 American Painting Today, Sponsored by Hedreen Gallery, Seattle, WA
2016 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Group Show
2016 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Group Show
2016 American Road Trip, SITE:Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Prize
2015 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
2015 On the Road, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015 Mrs. Goldberg, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2014 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
2013 Sugar Rush, En Em Artspace, Sacramento, CA
2013 Suburbia, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA/Solo Show
2013 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle WA
2012 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
2012 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton, WA
2012 Contained, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2012 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2012 Damage Control, Gage Academy of Art, Seattle, WA
2011 Museo Gallery, Langley, WA/Solo Show
2011 Art Port Townsend, Northwind, Port Townsend, WA/Merit Award
2011 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton, WA
2011 Material World, Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
2011 Saints & Sinners, Museo Gallery, Langley, WA
2010 Home, DIGS, Bellingham, WA/Solo Show
2010 Dwelling, Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA
2010 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
2010 Sweet Laurette’s, Port Townsend, WA/Solo Show
2010 Safe Harbor, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2010 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2010 Bainbridge Island Public Library, Bainbridge Island, WA
2009 Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
2009 Department of Ecology, Olympia, WA
2009 Envision Cascadia, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2009 Sweet Laurette’s, Port Townsend, WA/Solo Show
2009 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2008 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA/Merit Award
2008 Strait Art, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2008 Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
2024 The Experience of a Better Suburbia: The Suburban Landscape Paintings of Terry Leness | PLACE Curated
2021 Splash, Jihyun, Woo, Wisdom House Publishers, Seoul, 2021
2018 New American Paintings, Supplement
2017 The Seattle Times, April 19, 2017, “Please Don’t Eat the Art,” by Bethany Jean Clement
2015 Seattle Magazine, vol. 24, no. 9, September 2015, pg. 123
2015 City Arts, October 2015, pg. 3, http://cityartsonline.com/articles/beautiful-gloom
2014 New American Paintings, no. 115, Pacific Coast
2014 Cover art, The Stranger
2013 The Seattle Times, December 20, 2013, “Suburbia: Dream or Nightmare?” by Michael Upchurch, pg. 23.
2013 International Artist, No. 92, August/September 2013, “The Power of Notan in Landscape Composition” by Mitchell Albala, pg. 50.
2013 Studio Visit, Volume 19
2010 On Center, JULY-OCTOBER 2010, Vol. XXII, No. 4
2010 Studio Visit, Volume 9
2010 On Center, MARCH-MAY 2010, Vol. XXII, No. 2
2009 On Center, SUMMER/FALL 2009, Vol. XXI, No. 4
2009 The Leader, JUNE 10, 2009, Issue 23/Vol. 120
2008 On Center, MAR-MAY 2008, Vol. XX, No. 2
RESIDENCIES
2012 Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY
2010 Centrum, Port Townsend, WA