Cincinnati City Beat

There's no better way to welcome summer officially than with artist Adam Hayward's bright exhibition of of oil paintings, The Lyrical Light of Nature, currently showing at the Phyllis J. Weston-Anne Bolling Galleries (3235 Madison Road, Oakley). Focusing on the seemingly ordinary pictures of nature around him, Hayward's renderings are distinctly vibrant in color choice and shading. With small, almost impercetible brush strokes, he brings each flowering branch or sweeping scene alive with realistic shadowing. In "The Great Tree," a simple flowering tree appears lush and thick, its branches perfectly sun-dabbled. Hayward also experiments with background color, using bright blue and deep red to highlight the intricacy and deep shades of the flowers. One of my favorites, "Scarlet Eve" features a plush wine-colored background upon which deep, velvety purple and blue flowers appear to float in the mysterious red sea of color. Hayward also paints landscapes with his own unique touch. Instead of soft delicate colors, he uses bright, almost neon blue for his sky and renders his clouds with strong strokes of billowing gold.