A dazzling number of works are now on view in our Summer Members Show: Summer Hours. The selected pieces that hang in our upper gallery are sure to get anyone excited for the summer, since the displayed artwork captures the essence of the season. Juried by Hope Turner and Zola Solamente of Arden Gallery, the pieces on display range in mediums and styles, including photography, graphite, painting, and mixed media. And while the exhibition shows a large breadth of mediums and subjects, some of the same themes are portrayed.
Brilliant Blues
Kat O’Connor, CM, Light Above. Oil on linen, 28 x 22
Second Prize Winner
Chris Firger, Sunrise at Five Islands. Acrylic on canvas, 12 x 16
Light Above and Sunrise at Five Islands paint beautiful blue scenes that take place above and below water. Newly-minted Copley Master Kat O’Connor captivatingly plays with light and a blue palette in her oil painting, Light Above. In this work, Kat O’Connor takes a clever angle to focus on the woman’s bikini-clad body as it catches the suns’ rays whilst underwater. New member Chris Firger also takes blues, purples, and reds to create the distinctive Sunrise at Five Islands. In a style reminiscent of vintage travel posters, Firger captures a scene above water to show moving boats on the water’s silky blue surface.
Inviting Landscapes
Todd Montanaro, Watching and Waiting. Oil on panel, 16 x 24
First Prize Winner and winner of the Alden Bryan Memorial Award for Traditional Landscape Painting in Oil.
Doug Adams, CA, Land’s End. Photography, 50 x 32
The Summer Hours show features several scenic views such as Land’s End and Watching and Waiting. In these two works, the compositions draw the eyes from the subjects on the lower left and up to the top of the hills on the right. Each image even evokes a sense of a breeze flowing through the grass and water. But Doug Adams’ photograph beckons the viewer forward to explore the lighthouse and cross atop the hill, while Montanaro’s oil painting leaves the viewer content to watch the duo from afar as they pensively observe the waves.
Home Sweet Home
Martha Munroe, CA, The Walk Home. Acrylic on wood panel, 36 x 30
Juror’s Choice
Laura Tryon Jennings, Working from Home. Oil on linen, 42 x 32
While many travel far on vacations during the summer, nothing beats the comfort of coming home. The Walk Home and Working from Home elicit this strong connection to one’s humble abode. Laura Tryon Jenning’s work shows a wide view of her workspace which overlooks an endless ocean view and wide horizon. It leaves one with the satisfied feeling of spending a day at home alone to tackle work. Martha Munroe’s work features a rooftop lit by moonlight, peeking out from the dark night. The light upon the house stirs a familiar sense of euphoric joy after seeing one’s home at the end of a journey.
Wide Ocean View
Julian Cherubini, Blue Sea. Inkjet print, 34 x 11
Third Prize Winner
Jason Sawtelle, Last Day at the Lake. Oil on canvas, 52 x 29
Bodies of water are featured in many of the works in the Summer Hours exhibition. Blue Sea and Last Day at the Lake show water scenes in a wide view and play with the idea of a never-ending ocean. Julian Cherubini’s Blue Sea stares straight into the horizon, blurring the lines between sky and ocean and turning it into a wash of blue. Jason Sawtelle’s Last Day at the Lake points in a fascinating downward angle toward the seated woman, leaving the viewer to imagine how far the water stretches on all sides. The alluring water scenes in both of these works embody the summer feeling that is also captured in so many of the other works in the Summer Hours show.
The Summer Members Show: Summer Hours is on view in the upper gallery through August 16th.