Mary Lark Corbett and Terry
Corbett of
Epp’s
weather paintings in new medical office evoke emotions
By Marathana Furches
Newton Kansan
Published
Phil Epp
knows that weather has a way of making people feel a certain way. Emotions and
their relationship to the weather are part of what inspired Epp's most recent
project -- a series of eight 6- by 4-foot paintings in the Newton Medical
Center's Medical Office Plaza.
"Since it was in a hospital
setting, I thought about the circumstances people would be viewing these images
in. I thought that to be appropriate to the person who would be viewing it,
that weather would be a good subject," said Epp, a
The paintings are separated by
columns in the 20-foot diameter room. Each relates to prairie landscapes and
some "weather sky phenomenon," Epp said. The colors of each painting
are different and intended to work with each panel's subject.
Epp describes the 360-degree
effect of the art as similar to a carousel.
"I think the thing I'm
happy with is that I like all of them," says artist Phil Epp of his
paintings at the
"The balance is one thing I
tried really hard to achieve," Epp said. "The intention was to get
the items continued around and to keep seeing them (the paintings) sort of in
motion, or a carousel sort of thing."
A main factor in achieving the
carousel effect is that each of the eight canvases are
affixed to a curved, or concave, piece of wood, that is attached to the wall.
"The panels are in
themselves interesting. Aside from the imaging, they float from the wall, and
they're art to the same degree as the wall itself," Epp said. "The
presentation is one of the interesting things about the project, and that's to
Mark's credit."
Mark Andreas, a local woodworker,
came up with the concept of the curved panels. After collaborating with Epp,
Andreas designed and built the frames for each panel.
A great view.
The panels were installed a week
ago, and now are on display just below the second-story balcony in the rotunda
of the
Epp began working on the panels
last summer and said painting on a curved surface wasn't as difficult as he
thought it would be. The greatest difficulty, he said, was seeing the images
flat, but added in the rotunda, the artwork works "perfectly."
"I think the thing I'm happy
with is that I like all of them," Epp said. "I'm pleased with all of
them. Some are a little more dramatic than others and work as a flow so that
you get a dramatic piece that's next to a piece that's less dramatic."
NMC will host an open house from
The top of the rotunda lets
daylight in. Another angle
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