Cool is the rule

 

Photo illustration by Jeff and Veronica

So just why would a girl be riding a giant turtle? And why would a bikini-clad woman be dancing with Penguins in Rio?

 

Hey, those answers are up to you. Worcester’s Veronica Hebard just makes it all look cool.

 

The illustrator and painter works in the vibrant world of progressive art, blending bold colors, unusual characters and an irresistible invitation to the imagination.

 

“I try to have each piece be something that the viewer tries to figure out,” said Veronica. “I want each element to fit together and still create somewhat of a mystery. I want people to want to put a story behind it.”

 

With influences that include Frank Miller, Alfons Mucha, Jack Kirby and Albrecht Durer, she achieves exactly that. You can see it in her paintings, such as Dear Prudence, or her illustrations, such as Rain.

 

Maybe it’s the appeal of a story to be told. Maybe it’s how the art reminds viewers (me) of what it was like to sit down with a brand new Spiderman comic book — the bright colors, the smell of the print, the sound of the turning pages. Or maybe it’s the promise of some connection to that fantasy world. The human-looking characters mixed in with other, familiar elements create the feeling that this illustrated world is, perhaps, reachable from our own.

 

Whatever the appeal, more and more people appear to be tuning in to it. The proof can be found both in the virtual and physical worlds.

 

Veronica runs the Modus Lotus progressive arts project, which not only features the work of practitioners, but also is gearing up for the Pop Euphoria international art show at ArtsWorcester’s Aurora Gallery located at 660 Main St. With an opening party on Dec. 6 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the show has been extended to run through Jan. 17.

 

How popular is pop art? Ask Matt Groening how sales of Simpsons collectibles are going (not excluding the figure of the journalist’s journalist, Kent Brockman, who supervises my work). Check out the graphic novel and manga sections in Borders (sections that were comparatively non-existent not that long ago). Or try to size up the army of video game characters in your nearest Newbury Comics. Apparently, I’m not the only one buying these things.

 

Regardless of what’s driving the popularity, Veronica noted that the art’s perception has dramatically improved.

 

“The concept of high art and low art has kind of flip-flopped,” Veronica said. The fine art world, she added, “is starting to take itself a little less seriously. And that’s great.”

 

The commercial world is taking notice, too. Apart from her personal work, Veronica has been commissioned for a variety of projects: publication covers, murals and promotional images. In fact, she defines progressive art as the place where fine and commercial art meet.

 

The idea seems simple enough: let artists do real artwork, and the result is a much more engaging advertisement. It’s kind of like car companies ditching their own pathetic TV ad jingles, and recognizing people would rather hear an original tune by Moby or the Silversun Pickups.

 

Hmm. Who knew? (Besides all of the artists and all of their fans.)

 

 

FIRST TIME

 

Her first adventures in drawing came courtesy of the anime series Sailor Moon and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Veronica remembers pausing the tape in her VCR to hold on a specific frame, so she could draw a copy (all while not being distracted by the snowy-white static line buzzing through the screen).

 

 

WORST TIME

 

“My worst moment was probably when Create Magazine contacted me about putting some of my images in their digital illustration story. I got all excited, told my family and waited for the issue. Then I find they folded and were bought by Dynamic Graphics so it was never printed.”

 

 

Finding form in chaos

 

 

Somerville artist Kelvy Bird

You won’t find it on Google Maps.

 

 

Nonetheless, there is a place — philosophically speaking — where the Tao of art intersects the will of the artist. If you’re having trouble finding it, look for Kelvy Bird. She has a corner studio there.

 

Although technically undefinable by definition, the Tao is often described as a universal way, flow or force. For highbrow people such as myself, the movie Caddyshack provides an excellent insight: “Na na na na nah….Be the ball, Danny.”

 

Not surprisingly, the Somerville artist describes her work as “the space where you’re connecting to something other than yourself.”

 

Whether working with pencil on paper or gouache on panel, Kelvy likes to explore that space that contains both her own will as an artist, as well as those lines that simply want to be drawn. It’s a process of “noticing my alignment with the greater field, and when I’m separated from it,” Kelvy said. “Each state is appropriate at different times.”

 

Speaking of the “dance of the line,” Kelvy said, “that’s the finest place — which strokes are determined and which just happen.”

 

Her explanation shines some clarity on work that, at first glance, strikes the viewer as highly abstract. Kelvy’s Pulses series (gouache on panel) and Beats series (gouache on paper) reveal layers of spontaneity, organic growth and finally form. And while the paintings show both patterns and growth that are seemingly of their own accord, you can also see Kelvy’s touch — right down to her fingerprints seen in the Beats series.

 

To walk that line between the will of the art and her own designs, Kelvy sets parameters.   When a doodle from her journal makes the jump to something more, Kelvy quickly determines the medium and size, for example. Without some kind of boundaries, her art process could lead to work sprawling beyond manageability.

 

And then she creates, using the debut piece in a series as a springboard to explore other palette options and textures.

 

This knack for extracting form from abstract origins has served Kelvy not only in her art, but also the business world. In her work as a graphic facilitator, Kelvy gives visual life to the concepts, ideas and overarching themes spawned in meetings.

 

She maps, plots and illustrates the flow (there’s that word again) of the meeting in real time. At the end of the meeting, her work is intended to show participants the ground they’ve covered, as well as possible future paths.

 

“I almost never sleep the night before (doing one of these meetings). There is a performance element to it,” she said. “My main concern is that I won’t be listening accurately.”

 

One key is to understand what the group is striving for, she said.

 

“I really want to be able to hear the undercurrents,” Kelvy said. “You’re gifted with an opportunity to translate the invisible into the visible.”

 

It’s a fitting task for an artist who finds the form in chaos.

 

 

 

FIRST TIME

 

As her work demonstrates, Kelvy has an eye for textures. In this case, she liked the look of some wet stones. She was 5 or 6 years old, and the stones — found at the bottom of an outdoor shower — became the focus of her first art photo. She still has the image, tucked away in an album.

 

 

WORST TIME

 

Sometimes you get volunteered when you don’t really want to be. For Kelvy, it happened in college when a teacher wanted to demonstrate the “erasing” portion of the lithography lesson. Kelvy had been drawing on a stone, and was not particularly eager to lose what she had created. Her teacher, however, had other ideas, and wiped her stone’s surface clean. Ever the Taoist, Kelvy noted, “you realize that, if you’re a creative person, you can create it again.”