THE GURU OF GOSHEN

ARKANSAS NATIVE GAINS NATIONAL PROMINENCE FOR DETAILED ARTWORK

Artist George Dombek is seen here at his studio in Goshen. Dombek, an Arkansas native who has been an artist for more than 50 years, will open his studio to the public over the next couple of weekends.
Artist George Dombek is seen here at his studio in Goshen. Dombek, an Arkansas native who has been an artist for more than 50 years, will open his studio to the public over the next couple of weekends.

— In the hours before the dawn, just as the bar patrons find their way home and the night approaches its blackest, George Dombek works.

He enjoys the quiet that time of the morning affords him.

Some days, he’ll be at work on a canvas by 2 a.m. Even if Dombek does not stir to paint at that hour, he is always painting by 5. This ritual provides him with lots of time to complete his characteristic artworks: large, uber-detailed watercolors. For the past 51 years, Dombek has worked as a painter. For about 40 years, he also moonlighted as an architect and university instructor, but he gave up teaching about 12 years ago to concentrate on art.

After stints in many countries and cities, including a recent detour to New York City, Dombek works full time from his Goshen-area studio, which he has kept for the past 10 years.

Dombek always worried that he wouldn’t be able tosupport himself only as an artist. But now, more than a decade removed from his last teaching job, his art career is still ascending. Dombek will open his studio to the public this weekend and the next, and he will be among the artists represented when the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opens on Friday in Bentonville. One of his works, a bronze sculpture of a bicycle in a tree, is included in the museum collection and can be viewed on one of the art trails that surround the complex.

His works may feature detail on the smallest scale, but his imprint here and abroad is hard to ignore.

Before The Paint Dries

Dombek was born in Paris, Ark., in 1944 and came to Northwest Arkansas as an undergraduate to study architecture. But even then, there was a lingering thought about an art career. As a high school student, he took awatercolor class in 1960. He knew immediately he wanted to paint, but architecture seemed a little more stable. As soon as he completed his undergraduate degree, however, he acquired a master’s degree in art.

UPCOMING EVENTS

GEORGE DOMBEK

Upcoming events featuring Goshen artist George Dombek include:

Open Studio

When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today and Nov. 12-13; also available by appointment

Where: Dombek’s studio, 844 Blue Springs Road, Fayetteville

Admission: Free

Information: The event will showcase some of Dombek’s recent works.

Meet The Artist Program

When: Noon Tuesday

Where: Tyson Foods Headquarters in Springdale

Admission: Free for Tyson employees

Information: Dombek, who has many works in the Tyson corporate art collection, will talk about those works and other artistic endeavors during a lecture for Tyson employees.

Studio Concert

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Dombek’s studio, 844 Blue Springs Road, Fayetteville

Admission: $10

Information: The concert, called “Artistry of the Guitar,” will feature musicians Ken Bonfield and Steve Davison.

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT

He continued dabbling in architecture for much of the next four decades, usually through teaching jobs he took around the world. He taught architecture as close to home as the University of Arkansas and as far away as Saudi Arabia. There were also stops in Ohio and Florida.

All the while, he found representation for his art in galleries across the nation. He spent time living in New York and showed there. He spent time in San Francisco and was featured there.

The style Dombek developed uses watercolor to paint photograph-like images of natural elements or surroundings. Recently, he has been painting a series of birds in trees. Before that were series featuring grass, metal objects, rocks, f ire escapes and more. Dombek paints in series, meaning he may complete somewhere between 20 and 100 paintings on the same type of object.

That’s not to say he doesn’t try other subjects. It’s just that they don’t always capture his attention the same way the current series does, he said. He usually works on multiple paintings at the same time. That’s to keep himself busy, but it’s also a matter of practicality, as Dombek can work on one painting while the paint dries on another.

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George Dombek with “Out on a Limb,” his 40 inches by 60 inch, watercolor, shown in the background.

Dr. Louis Zona, chief curator and director of the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, has watched Dombek evolve over the course of many of those series. Zona has known Dombek for about 30 years, and the Butler collection features three pieces by Dombek that span his career.

“He’s detailed, and yet there is an abstract quality... that, to me, is a greatness,” Zona said.

Zona also appreciates Dombek’s ability to switch from series to series or jump between painting and sculpture.

“He can move between things,” Zona said. “Not many artists can do that.”

Dombek makes the important decisions about color early in the morning when he’s at his sharpest. He does broad work or peels away protective masking tape later in the day.

He works long hours but always with precision. Dombek is often askedhow long he spends on one piece. That’s hard for him to guess, considering how many paintings he works on at one time. So he answers the same way every time: “51 years,” which is how long he’s been using watercolors.

Metals And Medals

In those 51 years, Dombek has earned a slew of awards. The accolades come from all over the world, with recognition from the National Endowment of the Arts, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Arkansas Arts Council and a grant that gave him a residency in a New York City studio.

He enjoyed the studio - and the community of artists - so much that he extended his stay in New York for several years. As of this summer, he’s been working exclusively from his Goshen studio, which he designed himself.

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FILE PHOTO

George Dombek’s bronze bike sculpture is part of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art collection.

Dombek’s works can be found in hundreds of private collections and more than 60 museums and corporate collections.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 2010 said Dombek’s works sell for about $10 per square inch, which would make a 40-inch-by-40-inch square about $16,000.

Dr. Henry Adams, professor of American art at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, has known Dombek and his work for about 15 years. They became friends after judging an art show together in Florida. Adams, who is Yale- and Harvard-educated and has served in curatorial roles for many museums, said by phone that Dombek continues to grow as an artist.

He mentioned Dombek’s tendency to work in series and said that each shows a new level, something thatisn’t always the case for his contemporaries.

“He’s conceptually interesting, and visually pleasing, and it’s hard to do both of those things,” Adams said.

Dombek’s pieces appear nationwide, and many prominent examples are showcased locally. John Tyson, chairman of Tyson Foods, is a collector of Dombek’s works. More than 40 pieces are found in the Tyson corporate collection. Dombek will speak to company employees on Tuesday about many of the works featured there.

Alice Walton, Walmart heiress and driving force behind Crystal Bridges, also has a piece of Dombek’s work in her collection. “Tour de Tree,” a bronze sculpture on the art trail, is unique for Dombek in that it’s a sculpture and not a watercolor.

The piece is nestled among the trees and stands about 12 feet tall. A bicycle, similar to a wooden one that hangs from the rafters of his studio, rests in the branches of the tree.

The sculpture was created from a single apple tree and then sent to Cleveland, where it was cut into pieces, wrapped in plaster and then fired in a kiln. The mold created was then filled with bronze and reassembled.

Dombek has only praise for the new museum. As someone who has split time between national art centers and Arkansas, he knows the art world’s view of the area. The new museum could change that, he said.

“They are going to start talking about art in Arkansas. They are going to talk about Arkansas,” he said. “The secret is out,” about the state.

Out Of Exile

When he was first exploring a career as an artist, Dombek was in self-imposed exile from Arkansas. Now he’s considering a move back to New York City part time, he said. He misses his weekly strolls through other galleries and the interaction with other artists.

Even as he ponders that switch, he’s also considering expanding the studio space on the Goshen property where he lives with his wife of about four years, Sandy Twiggs.

Dombek opens his studio space to the public infrequently, although the open hours are happening more often of late.

About every two years, he has an open house like the ones he will have today and next weekend. He also had an open studio event last year.

He transforms the space into an avenue for showcasing new works, which will this year include flowers, birds, trees, pigs, armadillos and nudes. The open studio concept is much preferable to a gallery opening, Dombek said, because in this format he can actually talk to patrons.

“It’s a lot of fun. I never thought I’d say that about an opening.”

When the doors close on those events, Dombek will get back to work. He hopes to extend the size of his studio space by next year and be able to use the additional room to have group art shows. The space will ideally be a little more permanent in nature thanthe once-per-year or everyother-year events he hosts now.

He expects more of a demand for that kind of thing after the opening of Crystal Bridges. As he said, the secret is out about Arkansas artists, and there is a market for Arkansas art.

And increasingly, the secret is out about Dombek.

Our Town, Pages 17 on 11/06/2011

Upcoming Events