Uncommon Destinations - Sisters of the BrushShow dates : March 3 - 31, 2010Reception: Friday, March 5, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (public invited)Gallery Hours are Wed, Thurs & Sat, noon - 5. Fri, noon - 9Location: Lawrence Street Gallery is at 22620 Woodward, Ferndale (east side of Woodward, two blocks south of 9 mile).telephone 248-544-0394, or visit us at www.lawrencestreetgallery.comCome to the Lawrence Street Gallery during the month of March to see the work of nine local artists who present this exhibit as documentation of their individual and joint journeys towards discoveries and destinations both diverse and uncommon."We are nine artists living our creative lives in conjunction with the mundane demands of normal life. We have banded together on our diverse journeys to uncommon destinations," says Katherine Harra, artist.
The opening reception on Friday, March 5 from 6:00 - 9:00 p.m. provides an opportunity to have refreshments and meet the artists, and is free and open to the public. The group consists of Mary McCarthy Anderson of Rochester, Yvonne Thigpen of Fraser, Diane O'Neil of Shelby Twp., Tari Kahrs of Rochester, Kristen Roinson of Oakland Twp., Pat McGraw of Rochester Hills, Katherine Harra of Beverly Hills, Karen DeCarlo of Macomb and Barbara Markham of Rochester.Please see below for images of art from each of the artists.
Artist Statement: "Our different experiences and backgrounds yield a variety of themes, subjects and styles. What we share in common is our intention to explore individual interests and skills and our need for moral support as we strive for "success", says Katherine Harra, artist.
"J.C. Pearce said, "To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong", and Scott Adams has said that that while creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes, art is knowing which ones to keep.
Our group of nine meets monthly for encouragement and help deciding which "mistakes" aren't actually mistakes. Sometimes a little push is needed to overcome that fear of being wrong, in order to complete our respective works of art."
The individuality of their goals and styles are illustrated by these comments from several of the group:
"Paint and water define the subject and release its energy and life . . . drips and marks escape my brush and are captured in the painting."
"I find strength and beauty and power held within the intricacies of nature. My images are stylized, abstracted, and minimized . . . the cleanliness of a hard line makes my heart sing."
"As an artist, I see an interesting shadow, a composition, beauty in everyday life, and that is what I paint".
"I explore the relationships between manmade and natural objects. Sometime there is a harmony between them where the manmade can enhance our experience of the natural world."
"I paint representationally, often working from fairly mundane subject matter. Somewhere along the line comes the magical time when I have disengaged from the painting's initial subject and become fully engaged with the abstract 2-dimensional world of shape, color, form, line, and value on the paper in front of me."
"Through my creative journey, I am pushed in new directions which offer great discoveries."