Paradise Art Exhibit

January 4th to April 1st of 2019
Kailua Kona, HI 96740

Gary Leveque’s original fine art watercolor and acrylic paintings as well as a limited series of Giclée prints made their debut back to his beloved Kailua Kona at the start of the year.

Ka’i Hele I Mua: Moving Forward

65 original watercolor paintings: Sold

April 23rd to 27th of 1996
Chevron Park Auditorium
6001 Bollinger Canyon Road
San Ramon, California

The location for this exhibit was Chevron Park in San Ramon, California. This show featured sixty watercolors and a few acrylic clown paintings. It was the first time I got to work with professional framers. Originally, we had arranged for the exhibit to be up for a month, but a person in charge of facility scheduling filled out the facility request incorrectly and we were informed the show would need to come down in five days.

This exhibit had two opening receptions. The first night was for the general public and the second night was for the school district. It was a whirlwind event with little to no sleep. I was able to surprise my dear mentor, Barbara Abbot with a portrait painting of her working in her beloved garden. I was completely surprised by my friends Harvey and Kathleen Joseph who flew in for the exhibit from Georgia.

We ended up bringing most of the students at Vista Grande Elementary School, where I was teaching art, to Chevron Park to see the show. Once again, the students brought their sketchbooks and drew their favorite paintings from the exhibit. Even though this show ended up being taken down after five days, it became my fifth sold-out the exhibit. I was thrilled that the support in California was as encouraging as it had been in Hawaii years before.

Visions of Paradise

75 pieces: Sold

April 7th to 28th of 1993
The International Village Gallery
109 F Town and Country Drive
Danville, California

My first art exhibit on the “mainland” brought new challenges. The International Village in my hometown of Danville, California provided a space to rent. We converted that space into our gallery and rented display panels from the local schools. All the framing was assembled on site. Visions of Paradise consisted of Seventy-five watercolors and acrylics, featuring various florals, landscapes and a wall of clown paintings. The paintings were shown for a month and once again, to my astonishment, the show completely sold out!

I was teaching at John F. Baldwin Elementary School and singing and dancing at Great America’s theme park. This show was painted in seven different locations, many of which were private homes of friends. Wendy Shaw flew in from Canada to help me assemble the paintings and hang the show. It was exhausting and at the same time, wonderfully exciting.

We brought in second-grade students from the school to tour the exhibit. It was magical seeing the students spread out across the floor of the gallery drawing my paintings in their sketchbooks.

A Farewell Exhibit

45 pieces: Sold

December 7th of 1988
Brigham Young University - Hawaii Campus
Main Foyer
Laie, Hawaii

My third and final art exhibit at BYU-Hawaii was a one-night event featured in the McKay Foyer at the front of the campus. This show featured 50 paintings and proved to be a big challenge due to the restrictions of only having the paintings show for one evening. I received a lot of help from friends. It was a daunting task hanging the art and having the opening and closing reception on the same night. This was my third sold-out exhibit for BYU-Hawaii. Once again, the community and my friends showed up to offer their enthusiastic support. It remains one of many wonderful memories from college and my farewell to BYU-HC and Laie.

Wendy Shaw and Gary Leveque
A Combined Effort in Art

35 pieces: Sold

June 15th to 22nd of 1987
Brigham Young University - Hawaii Campus
Joseph Smith Library
Laie, Hawaii

The university had launched its Bachelor of Fine Arts program and six of my fellow art majors embarked on attaining that degree. We were also pursuing our teaching credentials as well. I was extremely fortunate to work with my dear friend, Wendy Shaw in a second art exhibition. Wendy and I combined efforts for this art show with Wendy handling the sculptures and I contributed my watercolors and acrylic paintings. The show was a big success and working with Wendy was amazing. To this day, she is my favorite sculptor and a wonderful friend.

Gary Leveque Solo Art Exhibition

75 pieces: Sold

June 16th to 21st of 1986
Brigham Young University - Hawaii Campus
Joseph Smith Library
Laie, Hawaii

My first solo art exhibit came at the end of my senior year. It featured 75 paintings, drawings and one large Bronze Chess Set. When the posters for the exhibit went up around campus and the town, people were confused having assumed I was a music major. In truth, I had put myself through school earning performing arts scholarships. I performed with both the Seaside Singers and Showcase Hawaii as well as some local events and talent shows. At that time, I had not shown any of my art to the public.

The opening night reception of my solo exhibit arrived and to my delight, the community showed up (I think out of curiosity) in large numbers. An hour into the exhibit, I was told that we had “sold out!”  It seems the paintings started selling quickly and we ended up with a fire sale of sorts. I was thrilled by the reception of my art, and shocked when my professor told me I was “the first student artist to sell out a senior exhibit in the history of the university!” I will be forever grateful to the BYU-Hawaii community for their love and support.

About Gary Leveque

My approach to painting was born in music. I was singing long before I picked up a paintbrush.

Available work

A limited series of Giclée prints and a series of original work are available for purchase.

What is Giclée?

My available prints are produced through a professional quality Giclée print process.