Opening Reception Saturday, October 3, 6:00-8:00pm 
“I have always been intrigued with a sense of place; those various characteristics that make any particular location unique. This can include the natural geographic features of the landscape, as well as the visual impact that human activity has left on the land. Everything within the environment is subject to change whether it is the movement of the wind, the transition from day to night, the cycle change of the seasons or the human alterations of the land.” –David Muldrinich
“Within the Landscape,” featuring drawings, graphics, and paintings of the Natural State, is an expanded exhibition of Mudrinich’s solo show which has been traveling the state and is currently on display at the Stephens Gallery at the Walton Fine Arts Building at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville. Mudrinich’s work will hang in the Merkle and Price Galleries October 3-30, with an artist reception October.
Mudrinich said, “I mostly do drawings and smaller studies on site and then work a larger piece in the studio. I rely on these studies, my memory and will occasionally include a photograph to help as a reference. But the full experience of actually being within the color and sound of a particular place is what I find important and motivating. Sometimes I focus on the small intimate characteristics of a place such as a bee yard or a garden. Other times I will choose a panoramic composition that allows for a wider interplay of elements over a larger landscape. In both formats, patterns rhythms and interrelationships become revealed. Though these images document a particular time and place, they also narrate the endless cycle of time and space that we are all subject to within our larger universe.
“In keeping consistent with this concept of change, I tend to rotate among a variety of media when I work. This practice keeps me challenged and prevents me from getting bored. ‘Within the Landscape’ helps illustrate the diversity of materials that I use.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Artist David Mudrinich lives in Pope County Arkansas and is a drawing and painting professor in the Department of Art at Arkansas Tech University. He works in a wide variety of drawing and painting media, focusing mostly on the themes of landscape and nature. He has always been intrigued with different environments and that sense of place that makes any particular location unique. This can include the natural geographic features of the landscape, as well as the human alterations to the land. Most of his imagery reflects the Arkansas River Valley region where he lives and the Ozark Plateau.
He was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State University. After graduation, the economic decline of that region provided the incentive for him to move. He relocated to Georgia and worked as an artist and as a forestry technician within an experimental forest, operated by the University of Georgia. This setting enhanced his awareness of the cycles of nature and the fact that everything within the environment is subject to change. While working in forestry research, he earned a MFA in Art from the University of Georgia and began instructing evening art classes. He was hired to teach at Arkansas Tech in 1998.
His work is exhibited widely and he has received awards on both the regional and national level. Exhibitions include shows at the Arkansas Arts Center, Butler Institute of American Art, Springfield Art Museum, Clinton Presidential Center, Wichita Center for the Arts, Schenectady Museum, Albany Art Museum, St. John’s University, University of the Ozarks and Georgia Southern University. Public collections of his work include the William J. Clinton Foundation; Hendrix College; Arts and Science Center of Southeast Arkansas; State of Georgia Art Collection; Athens-Clarke County Courthouse, GA; North Georgia College & State University; Parkersburg Art Center, WV and St. Frances Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, LA.