I experienced Judith Mehr’s paintings for the first time on a visit to the Springville Art Museum. Her sense of detail, the warmth of the colors and the connection among the subjects kept me standing in front of her work asking myself questions about the story that was being told. Her paintings engaged my imagination.
Later, I was lucky enough to become friends with Judy and when I asked her how a landscape painting was going, she said, “It is almost done. It needs air.” She spoke as if she the artist were breathing life into the work. And that is how I began to see her work.
I saw the “air” when she showed me the unfinished “Omran’s Angels.” In that work, she brought a newspaper story and photograph to life and then went beyond the story to see the unseen of the angels who gathered around the young victim of war.
It has been an honor to watch the vision of her work, supported by her attention to detail, and incredible skill expand to illuminate the universal in particular moments of history.