Gallery One Tulip Time exhibit to open April 3
Gallery One in Ocean View announced the theme Tulip Time for its new exhibit, which will be open to the public Wednesday, April 3 to Tuesday, April 30.
The weather may still be chilly, but the appearance of tulips offers encouragement that warmer days are coming.
Tulips have different meanings in different cultures. In the Middle East, they’re considered a symbol of paradise. In the Netherlands, they’re thought to represent the brief but vibrant nature of life. Gallery One is bursting with that vibrancy this month.
Lesley McCaskill’s acrylic “Spring Blossoms,” with its bright colors and forms popping from the canvas, like buds bursting from the ground, captures the essence of spring. The painting depicts a scene from her own garden and offers color and warmth.
“Spring is Here,” a pastel by artist Laura Hickman, makes viewers feel like they are actually in the backyard spring garden of their winter dreams. In Bethany Beach, spring greets people with a spectacular display of tulips.
In “Dutch Treat,” an acrylic by Joyce Condry, the warm orange colors of the tulips are set off by the cool blues in the background, perfectly depicting the emerging warmth of spring from the cool of winter. The Netherlands gave the U.S. a real treat when they sent over the first tulip bulbs. If the Dutch could only find a way to make them bloom for longer than two weeks it would be wonderful. But this brevity makes their appearance all the more special.
Artist Mary Bode Byrd’s mixed media painting “Blazing Blooms” depicts dark-pink tulip blooms evoking the romantic nights and sunny days of fragrant spring. The painting has a delicacy that speaks of the ephemeral nature of spring and a bold use of color that celebrates the flower’s triumphant emergence.
“River of Flowers,” a Dale Sheldon acrylic, leads the viewer through a river of blue flowers flowing past red and yellow tulips planted along a bank with white ones dominating the foreground. The bright colors of the flowers contrast against the green of early spring and the neutrals of the surrounding landscape.
“Tip Toe Through the Tulips” is the title of artist Pat Riordan’s whimsical watercolor. Her tulips dance across the canvas almost as if in anticipation of the spring whose arrival they herald.
Eileen Olson pays dynamic tribute to the tulip in her acrylic, “Homage to Tulips.” Olson honors the beautiful tulips that fill the little town of Bethany Beach every year. It is a joyous time to watch the bulbs burst through the mulch in a plethora of colors.
Gallery One is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week, at 32 Atlantic Ave., Route 26, Ocean View, and is always staffed by an artist. For more information, call 302-537-5055 or go to www.galleryonede.com.
