Photography Provided
Jeremy Mallov, an art teacher at Amy Beverland Elementary School, put his downtime last winter to good use.
Mallov painted constantly, and it paid off. His recent artwork will be featured in January at Fishers City Hall. The exhibition, titled ‘Local Splendor,’ will be on display starting the second week of January, with an opening reception on January 8.
“The exhibition will feature paintings of local scenes, painted almost entirely during the pandemic and lockdown,” Mallov explains. “The day the school closings were announced in March, I was on a walk with my wife when it all started to hit home for me.”
A photo Mallov took of his neighborhood street was the basis for the first painting he did once the pandemic started.
“For the past several months, I have been painting local scenes,” Mallov says. “Neighborhood sunsets, views over the reservoir, sunrises over neighboring farmland, etcetera. They have all taken on a complete new significance, when nobody was allowed to go anywhere.”
What Mallov saw from his backyard, or around a corner, sometimes gave him contradicting emotions.
“I have gratitude for having a place to go and be safe, and to wonder at the simple beauty of a sunset, but also the claustrophobia and frustration at not being able to go where I want,” he says. “I have noticed myself appreciating the sunsets a bit more, and finding more beauty in the everyday, commonplace sights.”
Mallov’s job as an art teacher has a positive impact on his art.
“In addition to being an artist, I am now in my eighteenth year as an art teacher, with the last 16 years spent at Amy Beverland Elementary,” Mallov says. “Being an elementary art teacher has affected my paintings in two ways – the speed and accuracy I can now paint with, and the amount of meaning I put into the art.”
Mallov and his wife Elizabeth stay busy with their four daughters’ various activities.
“Time is at a premium,” Mallov says. “One of the aspects of art I emphasize is how to find deeper meaning in art, and how to inject your own emotion, message or feeling into your picture, even if it is something as simple as a sunset painting. I have become really cognizant of what different scenes represent to me, or what memories or symbolism these scenes remind me of.”
For more information on the artwork of Jeremy Mallov visit his website.
