“Documenting the Moment: A Visual Journal” features plein air sketches by Jason Travers, through Dec. 17, Ronald K. De Long Gallery, Penn State Lehigh Valley, Upper Saucon Township.

“After many years primarily producing non-representational work, I have gravitated toward observed landscape studies using ink and water-soluble graphite to facilitate my hiking explorations with a more limited yet accessible medium,” according to Travers’ artist statement.

As the plein air sketches are completed on site, Travers continues, “The experience of recording these observations, visually surveying every detail and nuance of my surroundings, results in a product that documents the full experience in a way that a simple memory or camera snapshot could never replicate.”

“High Falls Creek, Ringing Rocks” (2020; ink wash on paper, 11 in. x 15 in.) was drawn at one of Travers’ favorite secluded locations. “I start out by sketching these out in water soluble graphite,” he explains. He then renders them with brushes, India ink and water on heavy cold-press paper.

Travers captures the movement of water over and around rocks on plastic with “Furnace Creek, Pinnacle” (2016; ink wash on polypropylene, 9 in. x 12 in.). In addition to a degree of luminosity that Travers accomplishes with Yupo multimedia stock, he is able to render “subtractive techniques” with a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

“When I revisit each of my completed sketches, I am instantly transported back to a specific place and time and can recount every sensory facet of the experience,” says Travers, “These works become a journal of my collective experiences.”

Travers is a Lehigh University faculty member in Art, Architecture and Design since 1999.

He was a summer 2014 Artist-in-Residence for Acadia National Park in Maine.

Travers’ work is featured in numerous area and national exhibitions.

The Bethlehem-based artist received a BA in studio art from Moravian University and an MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania.

In conjunction with the Travers exhibit, the Community Gallery in the third floor hallway, showcases the “Visual Journaling” of participating students.

Budding artists are encouraged to submit a tiny drawing for consideration, based on the theme: “Expressive Reflection of Your Personal Experience of Emerging from The Pandemic Isolation.”

A pencil and 4.25 in. x 4.25 in. sketchbook is available to those visiting the De Long Gallery.

Ronald K. De Long Gallery, Penn State Lehigh Valley, 2809 Saucon Valley Road, Upper Saucon Township. Gallery hours: 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - Thursday, 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Saturday, Closed Sunday. https://lehighvalley.psu.edu/gallery; 610-285-5078

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com