Over the summer, Doug DePice, who teaches art in the Secaucus school system, went out and began to create paintings of bridges. This was nothing new for him as an artist. Passion usually dictated where he would go with his art.
“Everything I’ve done in my life, every book I’ve read, every sketch I’ve sketched, every decision I’ve made centers around my art,” he once said.
Over the last few years, his passion has brought its rewards, winning him a coveted Geraldine Dodge Foundation Grant a few years ago, and most recently allowed him to become one of the top Selections from National Catholic Reporter’s Jesus 2000 Contest for a work called “Jesus in Central America”
DePice has been exhibiting professionally since 1976. His work has been seen in various galleries in New York City, the Paris Convention Center in France, the Morris Museum in New Jersey and the Fine Arts Museum of Long Island. The New York Times gave the latter exhibit a favorable review.
In 1995, Mr. DePice received a $7,000 grant from the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. It was awarded for his personal work as an artist and for his ideas as an art educator. In addition, an essay he wrote was recently published in a book titled A Passion for Teaching. His submission is one in a collection of essays by 42 teachers from throughout the country.
In his entry, Mr. DePice explains the teaching methods he employs to unify the disciplines of art, math, English and science and to develop his students’ visionary thinking skills. He cites the following quote from the Book of Proverbs as an inspiration for his teaching: “Where there is no vision, the people will perish.”
“There are things larger than logic like life and feeling,” he said during one interview last year. “But people, especially adults, are not comfortable with non-logical things”
For the second year, DePice will have a one-man show at the Secaucus Public Library and Business Resource Center. His work will go on display on Nov. 2 and will remain at the library until Nov. 16.
Twenty-five paintings
“There will be about 25 paintings that are going to be hung,” DePice said during a telephone interview this week. “But there will be about 100 paintings and watercolors over all.”
He said the show had no theme, but a group of the paintings were the result of his summer trek through New York City where he painted bridges. He said he liked the idea of connectiveness, and how these real bridges did just that.
“It moved me this summer to do these,” he said. “Life seems to evolve in clusters in the city, and the bridges seemed to connect it all.”
Although some of DePice’s works are very detailed, many are not, and he quoted VanGogh in saying that the less detail, the more magical paintings became. He said many of the paintings he did in his bridge series as well as others are “impressionistic.”
“What you get are some interesting diagonals, and out of them, metaphors,” he said.
Included in the showing, however, will be numerous other works including those of faces, landscapes, and what he called “spiritual skies.”
“I am also showing some experimental drawings done by dragging pieces across surfaces,” he said. “These came out very abstract.”
The show is designed to demonstrate his range of styles and techniques.
“It is a very democratic exhibit and will have a lot of different things, some will be rendered very realistic, while others more impressionistic,” he said.
A resident of North Bergen, DePice lives across the street from the landmark Teamsters building in Union City, which he did a rendering of.
“This is an unmistakable image,” he said.
The show will be hung on Nov. 2 with an artist reception from noon to 3 p.m. when the show closes on Nov. 16.
“Everything will be for sale,” he said, noting that in his last show at the library he sold 100 out of the 135 paintings he put on display. “The cost will be from $5 and go up in increments to about $900. I try to make my work affordable to everyone.”