miniature landscapes

miniature landscapes

drawn with number two pencil

line the walls of Bill's Room

ICON Gallery has a new installation in the upstairs gallery, Bill's Room. It's lined with miniature landscapes of suns, moons, water, clouds and trees, all slowly and carefully drawn with number two pencil by the artist and gallery owner, Bill Teeple.
          "Ever since I opened ICON," Bill says, "I've been so busy with art shows and classes that I haven't taken the time to do my own art. For a long time now, I've been wanting to have my own studio right here in the gallery so I have a place to work."
          Bill's Room is in the back of the building, up a short, open staircase. A shoji screen separates the room from the main gallery. In the middle of the room he's constructed a two-tatami-mat platform with a low Japanese-style table held together with wooden pegs. A slanted drawing board rests in the middle of the table, bracketed by handmade blank books and a case of drawing pencils.
          "I want to get a zabuton to sit on," he says. He starts to walk onto the platform, then stops. "I guess I'd better take my shoes off." 
          Bill sits zazen style, picks up a yellow mechanical pencil and makes tiny marks on the drawing in progress. Immediately his attention is totally drawn into the creative process. Each miniature drawing takes an untold number of hours. The result is soft and luminous, an invitation to go deep into another world.
          In sharp contrast to the pencil drawings, two of Bill's colorful abstract paintings occupy their own space on two of the four walls. A pair of gigantic speakers masquerading as sculptures emit soft music. The delicate and dazzling art work, the wabi sabi art table, the flowing music, and the serenity of Bill absorbed in creativity envelopes everyone who enters this magical space.