“Preserving the Lehigh Valley in Art” highlights the work of Lehigh Valley artist and photographer Hub Willson, through Feb. 13, Rotunda Gallery, Town Hall, Bethlehem.

Willson, a commercial photographer in the Lehigh Valley for more than 50 years, is known for architectural, industrial, business, portraiture, fashion and performing arts subjects.

Ten years ago, Willson picked up a paintbrush and began experimenting with acrylics. The self-taught artist focused on “artistically-preserving” the parks, historic structures, farm buildings and farm land of the Lehigh Valley.

“Bogert’s Bridge” (2022; acrylic on canvas, 18 in. x 24 in.) is one example of Willson’s landscape paintings of historic architecture.

“This happens to be near my house,” he says. “It’s my default place to go paint.”

The wooden covered bridge in Lehigh Parkway is flanked by a stone spring house and “Hunter’s Cabin,” a log house.

Willson paints en plein air during the warmer months. He experiments with various styles in the winter in his studio, using reference photos and his imagination. “I’m usually out of my mind in the winter,” he jokes.

Willson only works in acrylics. “I like to work fast and put layers on top of layers.” For him, oils take too long to dry. “I don’t have that kind of patience,” he admits.

With almost 1,400 paintings completed to date, “painting for me is still a learning process,” Willson says. “I don’t think you ever finish that learning process.”

While most of the works on display are acrylic paintings, a few of Willson’s landscape, portrait and dance photographic prints are in the exhibition. Willson has been a photographer for the Ballet Guild of the Lehigh Valley and Repertory Dance Theatre for more than 40 years.

One of the portraits in the exhibition combines photography with painting. “Dena” (2022; painting, photography on Giclee, 16 in. x 20 in.) is of a young woman photographed against a plain background while clothed in Renaissance-era garb. She holds a large jug. The background is a “Mona Lisa-ish” landscape rendered in acrylics. The images were combined digitally and printed with a canvas texture.

“This is what I call a ‘paintograph,’ a combination of painting and photography,” Willson says.

Music is a large part of Willson’s life. He began playing the drums at age 12. “Then I got into a band at 15 that had a Top 10 record,” he says, noting that the rock group, The Shillings, performed on television shows in Philadelphia and Boston.

Willson has played drums and keyboards with bands for the last four decades. One of the groups, Steppin Out, performs a reunion concert every November in Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem. Four new songs that Willson has written are available on Spotify.

Willson’s friend, fellow musician Dave Fry, refers to the photographer, fine artist and musician as “a Renaissance man.”

Willson, a 1967 graduate of William Allen High School, received a bachelor’s degree from Kutztown University in fine art advertising in 1971. His studio is in a building that houses Dan’s Camera City in Allentown.

The exhibition, co-curated by James A. DePietro and Richard Begbie, is sponsored by the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission.

“Preserving the Lehigh Valley in Art,” through Feb, 13, Rotunda Gallery, Town Hall, 10 E. Church St., Bethlehem. Gallery hours: 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Monday - Friday, Closed weekends and holidays. Information: https://bfac-lv.org/rotunda-gallery-shows-2/

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