THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 16, 1995 TAG: 9507140081
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERESA ANNAS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 133 lines
IT'S PROBABLY not a trend, yet the coincidence is worth noting: Two galleries for contemporary art recently opened along the Virginia Beach Oceanfront.
The parallels are somewhat remarkable.
The first to open was The Upside Down Crow, which came to life in April on 30th Street between Pacific and Arctic avenues. The owners are a married couple in their early 30s, artists Hunter Thomas and Peter Paul Connolly. They are exhibiting funky contemporary art and faux folk art by themselves and other area artists, in addition to quirky gift-shop items and antiques.
Eleven blocks south, at 19th Street and Arctic Avenue, is 1812 Arctic, a gallery named for its address. The owners are a married couple in their early 30s, artists Monique Leigh Thomas and Mike Thomas. Since they opened last month, the Thomases have been showing their own work, plus cutting-edge art by Southeastern and local artists.
Both galleries are about two blocks from the ocean, and are housed in quaint beach cottages painted and decorated to look friendly. Both venues plan to be open year-round and cater to locals, since most tourists don't seem to venture quite that far from the Atlantic Avenue resort strip.
In each instance, the artists were happy to have a studio, or a home, in their commercial outlet. Nobody's twiddling thumbs waiting for patrons. They're in the kitchen, or in the back, painting their hearts out - and having a blast.
Hunter Thomas, who was tending the Crow on Wednesday, was feeling twitchy-nervous. That night she would open with a leading role at the Generic Theater in Norfolk, in Beth Chenosky's ``The Furniture.''
Thinking about going on stage made her fretful - more so than when she and her husband opened the gallery a few months back. After all, she had tons of experience in retail.
Her mother is Nancy Thomas, a nationally known, Yorktown-based country folk artist. Hunter grew up minding her mother's shop, plus helping to paint and ship the objects. Later, she landed a job in New York with Mary Emmerling, credited with starting the country-decorating craze in the late 1970s.
While in Manhattan, she also helped run the Museum of American Folk Art's gift shops. In 1987, she returned to Yorktown to manage her mother's gallery.
She brings to Crow ``all this bookkeeping experience, dealing with customers, all these things you learn in retail.''
She and Connolly married in 1991 and were instant partners. They have often exhibited together at the area's outdoor shows. In late 1993, they set up a booth at an antiques mall in Yorktown, where they sold early American antiques.
When the two married, they made a five-year plan that led toward setting up their own shop. Last year, as Connolly prepared for a major exhibit at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center, the duo became obsessed with their goal. So, earlier this year, they rented the 30th Street house.
Area artists on display include Hal Weaver, Clayton Singleton, Gary McIntyr - and the owners. Thomas' work has a stiff, primitive look; lately, she has worked in themes related to Matisse. The shop sign is based on a drawing of an upside-down crow Hunter made at age 4.
Connolly shows reverse paintings on glass, his signature technique. But his best-known work is reproduced on cards: he and his mother, a Tarot card expert, collaborated on a Tarot card set that is a global best-seller, Thomas said. The gemlike illustrations - reminiscent of early 20th century stained-glass window designs - were drawn in colored pencil.
The most amusing items are tucked in a back gallery. ``This is what Peter calls his alternative souvenirs,'' Thomas said. Connolly made prints of his paintings of 50-something women in motel rooms and wrote along the frames: ``Greetings. . . from Virginia Beach!''
``They have not been a hit with the tourists, I must say.''
The couple plans to stage three special theme exhibits each year. The next one, opening Aug. 5, is titled ``Hit the Highway,'' featuring art from the era when Route 66 was the way to go. Look for birdhouses made by Ron Spears to resemble wren-sized diners and trailers, and other retro treats. Stop by Aug. 5 and 6 for ``roadside refreshments.'' Mmmm. A little cherry Kool-Aid in a plastic pink flamingo tumbler, please.
Just try to keep Mike and Monique Leigh Thomas from finishing each other's sentences. Looking more like beach parking lot workers in their shorts and T-shirts, the neophyte art dealers stood in their front gallery and jockeyed for verbal position.
1812 Arctic is their first gallery.
``Once we decided to do it,'' began Monique. ``We learned an awful lot,'' said Mike.
For seven years, they lived in the Washington, D.C., area. Mike worked in retail management. Monique was an insurance claims property adjustor, a job she found stressful.
``I wanted to paint,'' she said.
They returned to Hampton Roads more than a year ago to take care of Monique's mother, seriously ill from cancer. After her death in September, the couple traveled to Paris and pondered their future.
On the plane ride back, the idea of a gallery came to them.
``We thought, `This is it. We're going for it,' '' she said. ``We knew what kind of art we wanted to expose, in addition to giving me a place to work.''
They mailed out a notice to artists all along the East Coast, inviting them to submit slides. They're proud of the resulting opening exhibit, which includes Norfolk painter Anne Bousquet, whose works constitute shrewd, cryptic satire. Four paintings by Northern Virginia artist Charlotte Robinson evoke the deep mysteries of a pond.
Part of one gallery is devoted to the mid-1950s photos taken by Monique's mother in picturesque sites throughout Europe.
Monique, a Norfolk native who studied art at The College of William and Mary, is the best-represented artist. Dozens of her recent pieces are on view, including funky mixed-media assemblages, abstract wood-block prints, moody Polaroid transfer prints, clay masks and sleek ceramic vessels. She paints in several styles, from abstract expressionism a la Jackson Pollock to stylized naturalism.
She does not believe artists should be pigeonholed stylistically.
A large color photograph by her husband actually is a collaborative work. He placed Monique's gape-mouthed masks in water, photographing them as if they were in a state of drowning.
The opening exhibit, which continues through July 31, is not exactly a theme show. ``If there is a theme,'' Mike said, ``it's art-that-we-like.''
They're not looking to make a bundle - not yet, anyway. ``In our business plan, we gave ourselves 18 months to start making a profit,'' Mike said.
They don't want to milk the artists for that profit, either. The Thomases are taking an unusually small commission on sales - 25 percent.
Eventually, Mike said, ``we just want to make enough money to be able to go to Paris whenever we want.'' ILLUSTRATION: This Tarot card is one of a set designed by Peter Paul Connolly,
who with his wife, the artist Hunter Thomas, runs The Upside Down
Crow.
NEW GALLERIES
What: The Upside Down Crow
Where: 315 30th Street, Virginia Beach
The art: funky faux naive paintings and objects by area artists,
plus collectibles and gift shop items
Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday; noon to 7 p.m.
Sunday. Closed Tuesday.
Call: 491-CROW (2769)
by CNB