Posted on

Allgood’s birds find an April home at the CCAC

Allgood’s birds find an April home at the CCAC
This cardinal painting is among the 30-plus watercolor on canvas works on display this month at the Charles City Arts Center by Chloe Allgood, an Iowa City artist and the CCAC’s featured artist for April. (Photo submitted.)
Allgood’s birds find an April home at the CCAC
This cardinal painting is among the 30-plus watercolor-on-canvas works on display this month at the Charles City Arts Center by Chloe Allgood, an Iowa City artist and the CCAC’s featured artist for April. (Photo submitted.)
By James Grob, jgrob@charlescitypress.com

Chloe Allgood’s cardinal, Joan, has already been sold and is headed to Colorado.

Joan’s cardinal husband, Lou, is still available for viewing and possible purchase at the Charles City Arts Center all this month, along with more than 30 of Allgood’s other watercolor creations. Another cardinal, who Allgood said is just a friend of Joan and Lou, is also available.

“I sometimes like to create a narrative in my mind with the things that I paint,” Allgood said. ”Each person who looks at a painting creates their own story, their own narrative.”

Allgood is the featured artist for the month of April at the CCAC. Her show is entitled, “A Bevy of Peeps” and is watercolor on canvas. Most of the 30+ paintings are of birds, but there are a few portraits of people as well.

Allgood will be available for a Facebook livestream viewing of her art on Thursday, April 22. The viewing will go live around noon, and Allgood will interact with viewers, explain some of her art and answer questions. Allgood had some work available at the CCAC’s December Christmas show, and said she sold quite a few paintings.

“What you have at the arts center in Charles City is so unique, I really appreciate that,” Allgood said. “Not a lot of other small towns have something like that. It’s really amazing, and I love that I get to be a part of that.”

Allgood is an Iowa City artist who works in photography, sketching and painting. She studied art, photography, darkroom developing and techniques at the University of Iowa.

“My art is influenced and inspired by nature and by my surroundings,” she said. “I paint at least four or five paintings a week.”

Allgood, age 49, also paints flowers and landscapes, and often has shows in Iowa City. She has paintings hanging at different businesses in the town.

She grew up in Iowa City, and her father was a photographer and introduced her to the medium. She said she spent much of her youth in a darkroom developing film, and photography led to an interest in sketching, painting and other art forms.

Darkrooms are rare these days, however, and advances in photography have changed her way of approaching art.

“In this day and age, it’s not the same — anyone can take a picture, anyone can do graphic design,” Allgood said. “It’s amazing, how technology has allowed everyone to become budding artists and designers.”

She paints portraits of people off photographs, and with birds, she researches the species. She said sometimes she paints them abstract, and sometimes she attempts to duplicate their natural shapes and colors.

“My birds are usually more realistic than my humans,” Allgood said.

When she isn’t painting, she has taught English as a second language and has also done website work and graphic design work. She said she hopes to induce laughter and inspiration with her paintings.

“I love to paint. It makes me feel good,” Allgood said. “I hope that when people get a chance to see my work, it makes them feel good.”

Social Share

LATEST NEWS