Glass sculpture, Campeau paintings in Main Stope

By The Standard Staff - 07/18/2008

This untitled watercolor by Ray Campeau is on display at the Main Stope Gallery along with glass sculptures by Wesley Fleming.

Ray Campeau paintings and Wesley Fleming glass sculptures are featured in a show at the Main Stope Gallery in Uptown Butte through July.

Campeau says that the paintings in this exhibit are a collection of personal images, literal and imaginary, created over a period of 40 years but never before exhibited. Most of the paintings are watercolor, though some are experimental paintings rendered in mixed media.

As the work for this show was being sorted, he said it was like experiencing a visual diary of his past as an artist.

Campeau has been involved in the world of art as an award- winning art teacher, active artist, gallery owner and director, bronze foundry owner, art education researcher and a founding member of the Main Stope Gallery.

Always an advocate for the arts and artists, he has sat on the boards of many arts organizations and has for the past five years dedicated himself to the success of the Butte Phantom Art Walks.

Campeau will be exhibiting along with glass artist Wesley Fleming, who says of his work: “Growing up in rural Pennsylvania, I spent my days exploring the space beneath logs and rocks or reading science fiction. As a result, the shapes and colors of the natural world, as well as my own wacky imagination, are the main sources for my work.” All of Fleming’s sculptures are individually handmade over a torch, using glass rods acquired from Venice, Italy, and annealed in a digitally controlled kiln.