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• Stutz Art Space

Forrest Formsma displays his entry in StutzArtSpace's debut show; other participants' works are behind him. (Frank Espich / The Indianapolis Star)

The show Forrest is participating in, "Square One: A New Beginning," has that name because each artist has created their work on the same format - a 16 by 16 inch square.

Karen Land likes to think of the images in Friday night's opening exhibition at the StutzArtSpace gallery as tiny windows into a set of artistic souls.

If that is the case, then the soul of Forrest Formsma -- one of more than 40 artists working in the show's 16-by-16-inch canvas format -- looks like Downtown Indianapolis on a winter's day, though the view is not bleak or even cold.

Formsma, 30, created "Morning on Market Street" after catching a chance glimpse of Monument Circle.

"I was recently down there for a meeting and was struck by the peaceful morning light," said Formsma, a native of Lansing, Mich. "The city was waking up, and it was a good challenge to create the feeling of the calm, cool morning air."

Formsma's piece is part of "Square One: A New Beginning," the first exhibition in the StutzArtSpace gallery.

"Square One" coincides with the grand opening of the gallery, and also represents the first time the Stutz has taken part in First Fridays Indianapolis.

"This is the first time we've had a cooperative collaboration, run by the organization for the organization," said Land, gallery chairwoman. "I think people have a preconceived idea of what we do here, so this will be in a way a rediscovery of the Stutz, too."

Formsma, a former high school art teacher, became a full-time artist 261/27 years ago with the support of his Indy-born wife. He believes the exhibition's format forced each artist to devise his or her own unique solution in terms of content and composition.

"By putting people into the same format, it becomes a different challenge for different artists," Land said. "I think it kind of amplifies what is unique about their work."

For Formsma, who usually works in elongated measures, thinking inside the square was the challenge.

He does some abstract and some impressionist works of art, and is passionate about plein air.

"I'm kind of all over the place in terms of my subject matter," he said.

"You'll meet some artists who are steadfast about what they do. But for me it's really about working with color. The fluidity of paint, and having a strong composition, whether it's a famous bridge in Florence or a large abstract I'm doing. It's about the whole process for me.

"I tend not to be a painter who makes things really clever and you have to read a paragraph statement about their work to understand it. I just try to get harmony and color, interesting brushstrokes, and I guess a painting is finished when it speaks to me and has a unique harmony."

Formsma's work will also be featured at the Indianapolis Art & Antiques Show at the Indiana State Fairgrounds this weekend, paired with the work of master framer Jean Easter.