September 2, 2022 - October 1, 2022
Artist Reception: Friday September 2, 5:00 – 8:00 pm.
Part of Artwalk Easthampton
This exhibit showcases a selection of pastel illustrations, fruit of the creativity and imagination of a young artist from Colrain, MA, Dallas Looman.
Dallas Looman was drawn to painting at a very young age, first as a different form of communication, one he felt more comfortable with. As an autistic child going through school, he would draw pictures to share what had happened at school with his mom. But that way of communicating soon became an artistic passion, drawn by the creative process and discovering his fluency with the pastel media.
In 2013, one of his pieces was selected by “Very Special Arts,” the international organization on arts and disability, for an exhibition of artwork by emerging young artists with disabilities, held at the S. Dillon Ripley Center of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC.
Over the years Dallas Looman has become very skilled with his use of pastel crayons – his media of choice – creating animal portraits, still lives or landscapes in bright colors or more subtle tones depending on the subject matter. He has a style of his own, a great sense of design and composition (and humor!), although one can discern an influence from the artwork he gets to see at the Eric Carle Museum where he volunteers once a week.
