Photographer Gallovich will be featured at Murrysville library's art gallery
From an article in the Trib Live by Patrick Varine dated Tuesday, June 26, 2018 about an exhibition during the month of July, 2018 at the Murrysville, PA Public Library:
When Tom Gallovich was attending the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in the early 1980s, he and other students had to use the school’s “resource library” to find reference images for their paintings.
“It was just a collection of books and magazines people had donated, and we could tear out pages to use as reference,” said Gallovich, 57, of Vandergrift.
Not long afterward, Gallovich decided he would buy a Minolta camera so he could go out and get his own reference images. What he quickly found out was that some images “could not be improved by a painting,” according to his artist biography.
His work has been recognized at statewide photography competitions, and he has placed in events including the Natural World Photographic Exibition and the Triennial/Biennial at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art.
In July, it will be recognized by patrons of the Murrysville Community Library, where it will be featured in the libarary’s East Suburban Artists League gallery.
The gallery will be made up of mostly nature and wildlife images.
“I was lucky enough to go to (Michigan’s) Upper Peninsula last year, and I came back with some stuff I never would’ve even though of.”
Gallovich, a former instructor at the Oakbridge Academy of Arts in Lower Burrell, said he frequently ends up with unexpected shots, thanks to his practice of keeping an open mind in the field.
“I have a rough idea of what I want to shoot, but I never limit myself to any one thing,” he said. “If something grabs my eye and I think I can turn it into a nice image, that’s what I’ll do.”
Gallovich has gone out to snap waterfowl photos, only to come away with “some of the greatest shots I’ve ever gotten of deer walking in front of a sunset,” he said. “If you’re looking for one thing and not keeping an eye on everything else, there’s the potential to miss some truly great opportunities.”
Gallovich is also the author of “Power Composition for Photography: Develop Your Artistic Eye,” which dispenses advice for aspiring shutterbugs.
“I like just being out and about in the elements, and experiencing nature firsthand,” he said.
The gallery is at the Murrysville Community Library, 4130 Sardis Road in Murrysville.
See the library’s website for regular hours. For more about Gallovich, see TomGallovich.com .
Patrick Varine is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-850-2862 or pvarine@tribweb.com.