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As part of the creative and financial triumvirate behind the now-defunct Flying Anvil, Brian Crean sought to bring attention to Greensboro's thriving music scene. Now, with his upcoming photography exhibit at the Green Bean, Brian hopes to open the community's eyes to an equally vital aspect of Greensboro: its natural beauty.

"People often overlook their immediate surroundings," he says. "You don't have to travel the world to find natural beauty. It's all around us right here."

The photo exhibit, which runs from Oct. 15 through Nov. 18, is titled "Green Art For Guilford County." It documents Crean's solitary wanderings around such local attractions as Lake Brandt and Lake Townsend.

Visitors to Stillbook, Brian's online journal, are already familiar with the visual idiom he employs to translate his non-linear take on the world around him. In the photos commemorating his visit to Alaska, for example, as well as in the short series titled "Spring," lush lighting is combined with oblique, intimate angles to somehow make leaves, branches — even panoramic landscapes — as immediate and legible as the printed word.

The peripatetic origins of Brian's art and thought evoke another American champion of the outdoors: Henry David Thoreau. Stillbook is saturated with references to the author of "Walden," a writer once described by Italian poet Dino Campana as possessed by a mania di vagabondaggio, or "wandering mania."

It's not hard to see a similar "mania" present in Crean's life. Born in Chicago, he has traveled to Finland, Poland, Ireland, France, Italy, Germany, Atlanta, California and, most recently, Alaska. A parallel wanderlust is apparent in the various trades he has plied, ranging from art instructor to rare book conservationist to his current position at a Greensboro printing company. A love of both writing and visual art has been a constant.

Crean, who holds a master of fine arts degree in printmaking and sculpture from UNCG, previously exhibited his work in Greensboro in 2004 to commemorate the release of his self-published book, "Letters to Montaigne." This time around, he decided early on he wanted to stage his exhibit as a benefit and contacted the Guilford County Open Space Committee with that goal in mind.

"I called them up and was like, 'Hey, could you use some money?'\u2002" he says, laughing. "I thought, instead of the usual wine and cheese affair, why not have a silent auction and donate the proceeds to something I felt to be worthwhile?"

Contributing to the local feel of the exhibit will be the presence of some old friends at Friday night's reception and silent auction. Andrew Dudek — member of the Greensboro indie-rock band Dawn Chorus and Brian's former business associate from the days of the Flying Anvil — will be on hand to provide acoustic ambience for the opening. Co-hosting the event is Tahe Zalal, who shares with Brian a passion for the local art scene as well as the local environment.

"Without the two of them involved," Crean says, "the event just wouldn't be as cool."

Chris Fox is Go Triad's Visual Arts columnist. Contact him at foxedelica@gmail.com.

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