Four stars

Murphy Art Center, Studio #204b.

On “First Friday” I visited the studio of one of Indiana’s finest artists, Lois Main Templeton. Her paintings and mind are never stagnant and always expressive of Templeton’s intellect and warmth. The artworks’ energetic marks and loose abstract washes share compositional space with more thickly painted and delineated areas of contemplation. Templeton’s studio is half filled with “Talking Walls — A Room For a Painter.” Gessoed canvases are stapled to individually cover whole walls in a provisional room. Still at an early stage, canvases show underlayers of penciled writings partially smeared into gray tones and surrounding sienna stains. Tacked paper strips with text have curled up to be read only if unfurled like a line of secrets. Squares of white paper with poems or journal entries are adhered overall like a cousin to the community bulletin board. In fact, Templeton wants community interaction and reaction to her work. Through her gallery, Editions Limited, she has invited collectors to her studio in April to share her working process as a way of saying thanks. Maybe Templeton hasn’t realized that we are the ones who should be thanking her. www.loistempleton.com; Editions Limited (317) 446-9940