THE VOLCANO'S VISUAL ARTS CRITIC >>>

You may know Peter Sheesley from the painting demonstrations he did at Tacoma Art Museum in connection with the Norman Rockwell exhibition.

I have a confession to make: I was not impressed with what I read about Sheesley, nor with what I saw on his website. I thought of it as realism and nothing more than a show of painting virtuosity. But when I saw Sheesley's show, Science and Industry, at Fulcrum Gallery, I realized there was much more to him. I also realized that Sheesley's work-especially dark and moody pieces such as these-do not reproduce well, on paper or online. What you see in print here is a pale reproduction of what you can see in the gallery.

Sheesley's paintings in this show are taken from candid photographs snapped in Chicago's Museum of Science & Industry. The key word is "candid."

To read Alec Clayton's full review click here.

[Fulcrum Gallery, noon - 6 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and by appointment, through July 13, 1308 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Tacoma, 253.250.0520]