When David Buckley Good first entered the art world in 1975, he saw himself as a surrealist painter. He worked in the contemporary style for nearly 20 years.
In 1994, he switched to realist painting.
“A friend of mine referred to it as the history of art in reverse,” Good said.
But the evolution felt natural to him – there’s something gripping about traditional realism.
“When you paint a realist painting, it kind of automatically tells a story just by what you decide to paint,” he said.
Art-goers can experience Good’s visual stories at an exhibit in the Williamsburg Art Gallery. The Gallery will introduce Good as it’s first featured artist at an opening reception on Friday, followed by a painting demonstration on Saturday.
The exhibit features around 12 of Good’s oil paintings, mostly French landscapes. Other landscapes and some still-life paintings complete the display.
Good studied, and now instructs, at the Schuler School of Fine Arts in Baltimore, Md. There, he learned from Ann Didusch Schuler, a notable painter and co-founder of the school.
In 2001, he painted in Dinan, France for a month as the city’s artist in residence, and Good has painted extensively around France in his career.
Since his youth, Good has both painted and nursed a great love of history. His paintings of European and American landscapes allow him to combine passions.
“I think Williamsburg is a good match for me, because of the interest in history,” he said.
Gulay Berryman, director of the Williamsburg Art Gallery, first noticed Good’s paintings at a gallery in Maryland. She noted his name, as she often does when a piece of art catches her eye.
Berryman praised Good’s technique, noting the balance and use of color in his paintings.
“What I’m after in my painting is a very rich surface,” Good said.
There’s nothing quite like painting, Good said. He loves the tactile aspects, the qualities that elevate a painting beyond just an image.
Good remembers something Ann Schuler used to tell him: “A picture is of something, and a painting is something.”
For those interested in Good’s process, he will give a painting demonstration – likely of a French landscape – at the gallery on Saturday.
“It’s a way to see how the painting develops,” he explained. “You learn a lot more from watching a painter paint than you do from anything the artist says.”
The gallery is open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12-6 p.m., Sunday. Good’s paintings will display through September 2016.
For more information, visit davidbuckleygood.com or wmbgartgallery.com.
Bridges can be reached by phone at 757-275-4934.
Want to go?
Opening reception: 6 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20
Painting demonstration: 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21
440A W. Duke of Gloucester St.
565-9680, info@wmbgartgallery.com
