Gallery One to open new Fantasy show March 3
Gallery One will present its March show, themed Fantasy, to the public from Wednesday, March 3, through Tuesday, March 30.
The artists of Gallery One are fantasizing this month. Dreams, imagination, and magic are all in view with this month’s show. W. Scott Broadfoot’s oil painting “Fantasy Still Life” illustrates this perfectly, and provides a little art history lesson as well. The phrase “trompe l’oeil” is French for “fool the eye,” and this painting technique uses realistic imagery to create the optical illusion that the depicted objects exist in three dimensions. Although the term gained popularity in the early 19th century, the illusionistic technique associated with trompe l’oeil dates back to murals of the Greek and Roman eras. Scott’s painting is composed of modern-day objects arranged in a dream scenario and is so lifelike that one can almost smell the pipe tobacco and hear the mouse twittering.
Many of the artists found themselves this month in a springlike reverie of fantasizing on canvas about nature in its warmer, more verdant version. The gallery is alive with birds, gardens, flowers and fish. Dale Sheldon’s acrylic painting “Meeting Monet” combines a wish to meet the legendary painter himself with a depiction of his lush garden in Giverny, while Cheryl Wisbrock’s watercolor painting “Nature Preserve” is a more local illustration of a small park reminiscent of a fairy garden in vibrant shades of green.
Artist Leo Kahl found himself wondering what happens at night in gardens, away from nature lovers’ prying eyes in his painting, “They Only Come in the Night.” Lesley McCaskill relives a fantasy day with the birds in her backyard in her acrylic painting “Reverie.” And in her oil painting “Overture,” Eileen Olson has created a dramatic amalgamation of all her bird fantasies. Her depiction of glowing red wings passionately exploding against a deep blue sky takes one’s breath away.
Marybeth Paterson’s “Roses for a Winter Day,” in oil, depicts rose petal-based fantasies, and their velvety-soft, delicately fragrant perfection begs one to imagine them floating around. Joyce Condry has always dreamt of having a koi pond in her back yard, and she shares that in her acrylic collage, “Koi Pond,” a whimsical composition of complementary reds and greens. Laura Hickman’s pastel painting “Isola Tiberina” is a portrait of a tiny, charming Italian village that calls to her heart.
Mary Bode Byrd’s mixed-media acrylic “Going to the Fair” imagines a better summer ahead in which everyone gathers with friends, children and grandchildren to enjoy the simple joy of a trip to the fair, carnival or boardwalk. Her colorful abstract painting sings with the joys of summer.
Gallery One is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is always staffed by an artist at 32 Atlantic Ave. (Route 26), Ocean View. Call 302-537-5055 or visit galleryonede.com for more information.
