Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > May > 07 > Entry
Dinner at Povey/Tolar Residence
Why would Edward Povey move to Central Texas?
The auspicious artist has lived all over his native United Kingdom, not counting those years in Grenada. On that teensy Caribbean isle, with his first wife, he raised two children in a day-dreamy culture, dodging soldiers only briefly during the Reagan-era intervention. And, over a lifetime of painting in what he calls a Figurative Symbolist style, London-born Povey’s picked up collectors all over the world. Not bad for an artist who has always worked outside the mainstream fashions in his field (although figurative work has returned recently). Well, for one thing, Povey has visited Central Texas frequently over the past two decades — his primary home had been in a tiny northern Wales town. His paintings, which often delve into costumed images untangled on the subconscious level, have always sold extremely well here. But that’s not why he and D.L. Tolar, his wife, also a painter, chose to live in Wimberley. “We fell in love with the people,” the soft-spoken, soft-eyed Povey says. “They are so kind. And so open.” Povey said the magic word — “open” — over dinner at his temporary Wimberley residence on Wednesday. To me, that’s the best way to describe the state of mind peculiar native to this region. Not “friendly,” which too often translates into an aggressive protectiveness of the status quo. Open. Povey is planning a big media event soon to unveil some legacy plans for the artistic community. Yet I learned more during one intimate dinner than during 100 press conferences, gallery openings or artist lectures. The couple’s rental house is overwhelmed by their Asian antiques and haunted paintings, only a fraction of which are on display, while they build a house a few miles north of Wimberley. Over inventive Thai food, our candlelit conversation spun deep into the night. I hope it’s just the first of many such nights. They get Austin.
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