Roy Money and John David Scully at Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library

June Art Exhibit Features Roy Money and John David Scully

Photographs and Etching on display at Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library

With the overriding themes of travel, observation, and nature, artists Roy Money and John David Scully present a sublime collection of photographs and etchings at the Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library. On view from June 3 through June 26, the show kicks off with an Opening Reception on Sunday, June 3 from 4pm - 6pm.

Roots and Moss, Roy Money, archival digital photograph, 12” x 18”, 2017

As photographer Roy Money explains, there is a proliferation of order and mystery in the natural world that displays itself as beauty and wonder to many human beings. However, we still struggle with an estrangement from nature, as if it is something irrevocably separate from and subordinate to us. This deep-seated attitude is central to our history and threatens our collective future with increasing disorder and suffering. “I usually identify myself as a nature photographer because that is the simplest way to describe what I do,” says Money. “But nature is in us, as well as vice-versa. Photography affords a way of exploring my awareness of that relationship and realizing its scope.”

The natural landscape is a typical subject matter for Money because of “the many possibilities to enjoy a domain of sensible richness and the opportunity to immerse myself in an acute awareness of what is before me.”

Las Trampas Church, John David Scully, copper plate etching, 7-3/4” x 4-3/4”, 2015

That acute awareness is equally present in the work of John David Scully, who presents both landscapes and intricate portraits of buildings. “I strive to recreate the solitude and stillness of place, of the evening and the dawn.” Scully’s inspirations and subjects are vast yet familiar: the panorama of a lake and its framing mountains under the ever-changing sky; clouds, rain storms, thunder and lightning moving across a horizon; the desert of the southwest with its adobe churches; the rocky valleys and mountains of Greece and its temples; Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Ireland; the Yellow Mountains of China with mountain peaks rising out of the clouds or fading into the mists.

Scully’s wide-ranging subject matter was inspired from an early age. He traveled extensively with this art historian father. It was through those experiences that he learned to appreciate art and was inspired to focus on drawing and watercolors. Over the years, he took classes at Creative Arts Workshop and found his way to print-making, etching, sugar lift and aqua tint. Scully is also an avid collector of African American quilts. You can view more of his pursuits and work at www.johndavidscullyart.com.

Money’s artistic background is equally diverse. He received an MFA in photography from the University of Delaware and was a photography teacher for several years. During a dormant photographic period, poetry and meditation served to sustain his connection with creative awareness. While he had long pursued an interest in Asian culture, a trip to visit his son in China made its cultural sensibilities of the natural world much more vivid. This travel experience revived memories of wonder in the woods of his childhood and he reclaimed his photography practice with new inspiration and resolve. Roy’s photographs are drawn principally from the New England landscape, especially Connecticut and New Hampshire, and from travel to the southwestern U.S.A. as well as abroad. Roy’s work has been exhibited in solo and group shows in CT, as well as in DE, NY, VT, Chicago, Atlanta, and Nashville. He is a member of the Kehler Liddell Gallery in New Haven. You can see a portfolio of his work at www.roymoney.com.

Money and Scully’s exhibit is free and open to the public. The Willoughby Wallace Memorial Library is located at 146 Thimble Island Road, Stony Creek Village, in Branford, CT, www.wwml.org. Hours: Mon-Thu, 10am-8pm, Fri-Sat, 10am-5pm.