The Storm – Exhibit @ Inner Stairway Gallery
May 11, 2024 @ 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Just as storms gather over the horizon, so do our artists gather thoughts, memories, challenges, and gifts from the literal and metaphorical storms in their lives. The Storm will be exhibited in the Inner Stairway Gallery at Trackside Studios from May 11 through June 6 daily from 11 am to 4 pm.
This year, our artists explore the broader theme of “Who Am I? Who Are We? through the monthly prompts. Artists exploring “The Storm” are Patricia Chaparro, Carol Cole Czeczot, Susanna Euston, Marisa Gallardo, Melissa Kucin, Li Newton, Suzanne E. Saunders, Kimberly Smith, and Micah Usher. A reception to meet the artists and talk about their interpretations of this theme occurs at our Second Saturday Art Stroll, May 11, with a sips and snacks reception from 2-6 pm.
Carol Cole Czeczot’s Wide Awake is a metaphor for how menacing circumstances can prompt vigilance and bring courage and beauty to the fore.
Some experience The Storm more literally, as does Kimberly Smith who painted The Hurricane when she lived in southern Florida. Two other views of storms in the ocean are Storm, an acrylic painting by Patricia Chaparro, and Wild Waters an encaustic mixed media triptych by Marisa Gallardo.
On land, photographers Susanna Euston and Micah Usher captured storms in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Euston’s photograph, Thunderclouds Over the Blue Ridge Parkway II, captures the dramatic cloud formations in a toned black and white while Usher’s Coming Rain at Looking Glass Rock highlights colors as rain encourages trees to shed their leaves.
The Storm can also apply to life events and relationships. Suzanne E Saunders describes Tentacles and Marvin Having Their Afternoon Beer as a mixed media painting that depicts an unlikely friendship. In a poignant paper collage, Forgetting Herself, Li Newton chronicles her mother’s darkening journey into Alzheimer’s dementia.
Melissa Kucin explores that time of recovery and renewal in After the Storm.
Further descriptions of each piece by the artist can be seen at the exhibit.
