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Date published: 6/24/2010
BY KAITLIN MAYHEW
Vickey Hluchanek-Monan has returned to her first love from almost 30 years ago: watercolor. Hluchanek-Monan, 50, along with Sandy Skipper, 33, collaborated to create an art exhibit titled "Exotic Locales," which will open Sunday at the Fredericksburg Center for Creative Arts. It runs through July 30. The exhibit is a mixture of artwork and photography by the two women, inspired by their travels abroad. Hluchanek-Monan said she used to love painting watercolors while a student at Texas State University, where she majored in commercial art. She won regional and national awards for her work. In the 1980s she studied graphic design and stopped painting as often. "I had really lost contact with the art by hand," Hluchanek-Monan said. However, in the last three years, she began painting watercolors again, and will finally display her work based on a vacation to Paris, and a business trip to Malaysia in 2009. She said many of her favorite images are from her visit to Malaysia. She said that the atmosphere there was unlike any other destination she had ever visited. "It's such a mixture of cultures," she said. "I am glad to be able to bring it back." Hluchanek-Monan was able to photograph temples, a fishing village and a spice farm while in Malaysia. She also visited a butterfly farm, which inspired her favorite photo in the show, "Banana Flowers." Skipper, who contributed photos from her business trips to Ireland, Amsterdam and Spain, said that she began photographing artistically about three years ago. She saw a contest for railroad photos and shot a few one day on her commute from Stafford to Alexandria. She won the contest. Since then she has been photographing everything in her path, from Gaudi architecture in Barcelona, to her backyard. "Photography is really my true love," she said. "It's how I express myself." Skipper's favorite photo in the exhibit is one she took at a zoo in Ireland. "Their zoos are not enclosed like ours are. The monkeys are almost running free," she said. She took a photo of a monkey sitting down picking daisies. "The expression was so serious," she said. "He was concentrating so hard on the daisies." Skipper said that she thinks "Exotic Locales" provides a great opportunity for people who might not be able to travel this year. "They can visit five countries without even leaving Fredericksburg," she said. Hluchanek-Monan and Skipper also will be featured on the TV program "Artscapes," which will air on July 19. It can be seen on Comcast channel 2 in Spotsylvania and Stafford counties. Kaitlin Mayhew: 540/374-5000,
Date published: 6/24/2010
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