"Ripe Season" Solo Exhibition at Open Space Gallery in Ottawa Il July 6th-30th, 2022 Reception Saturday, July 30th 5-7pm

Exhibition Statement

​As a child growing up in rural Illinois, I remember our raspberry patch in our park-like backyard.  When the bramble bows were heavy with red berries, with care and difficulty I navigated the brambles and thorns.  I distinguished between the small pale pink young buds, and picked only the sweetest red ripe fruit. Ripe Season represents maturation and coming to a point of readiness.  
 
Waiting and anxious observation characterized much of the past two years.  The time period of the pandemic has felt like the longest darkest winter. The passage of time slowed and each season was experienced in stark relief to the  uneasy world captured by the media.  I often returned to still life and figurative drawing while in forced seclusion.  I depicted my immediate world,  family, and the undeniable present. I also travel to an allegorical space, where I am able to slip out of the confinement of the real and envision alternate possibilities.  I work in a variety of mediums.  Drawing is the foundation of my practices and is relied upon for its ability to generate a quick study and visual diary of my world.  My sketchbook drawings become a visual lexicon and I return to them often when beginning more time-consuming larger works of  paintings & drawing.  My work cycles through autobiographical narratives and relies upon the histories of surrealism, folk-art traditions, and post-impressionism.  

Open Space Gallery is located at 223 W. Madison St. in Ottawa, IL. The exhibition will run July 6th-30th with a closing reception with the artist on Saturday, July 30th from 5-7pm. The reception is free and open to the public. The gallery is open Wed-Sat. 12pm-5pm, 11am-6pm on Saturday.

Stretch & Reach, acrylic on canvas, 16x20 inches, 2022

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Distancing, acrylic and flash on canvas, 36x48 inches, 2021

In Brambles, acrylic,hard pastel, and flash on Stonehendge paper, 30 x 22 inches, 2020