Jack Baron's pointillism style of art is renown throughout the Keys, even the world. But wait `til you see what he's done with those teensy-weensy dots in his upcoming show at the Key West Museum of Art & History.
"Baron en pointe" is 25 framed, fabric wall hangings, hand-stitched and knotted by the artist over the course of the past 20 years. "Every tapestry is something I've taken from my paintings," said Baron. "I've done hundreds of needlepoint and crewel pillows, and decided to do one of my paintings this way because the image of dots transfer easily from one medium to the other.
"Fay Detwake, a black woman who lived with her dog, John Henry, on Windsor Lane was the subject of many of my paintings, so she became my first tapestry."
Baron does the acrylic painting first, then redraws it on needlepoint canvas. He buys the yarn to match as closely as possible to the acrylic paint colors, but his fabric "paintings" have sharper edges and higher contrast than the diffused lines his paintbrush creates.
No doubt, these needlepoints are still the simple, graphic, representational art of Jack Baron. However, the nature of thread actually produces bolder, more abstract primitives.
The 20-year-in-the-making art show is also due to the nature of thread. It can take Baron as long as one year to hand-stitch all the fabric "dots" compared to his acrylic dots, which may take less than a week to complete in a painting.
"Five acrylic paintings will be paired with their tapestry counterparts during the show," said Baron. "Though as you might guess, most of the original paintings were sold years ago."
Black faces and angels appear as much in Baron's stitchery as they do in his paintings. But according to the artist, "gold thread shreds your fingers", so look for less glitter and more blue and purple. A Blue Lady. Little Boy in Blue. Fay Detwake in purple: "Jack's always claimed that black people's skin isn't black, it's really a rich, deep purple," said Robert Burton, Baron's partner in life.
An old footstool that Baron needlepointed 30 years ago claims space in his bedroom. It's background was originally hand-stitched with black thread, but the sun and time has taken a sensational toll on the varying yarns, and shades of blue and gray and purple have added elegance to its patina.
Baron says nature took its course, and left its stamp on his art. My, how nice that we all should age so gracefully, and be around as long as Jack Baron's art works will surely be.
"Baron en pointe" opens at the Custom House (281 Front Street) February 7 and runs through April 8.