Please join the artists for a Saturday reception and book signing:
Saturday, April 13 from 1:00-3:30.
Enter Members Gallery through Sunken Garden.
Helen Burroughs
Growing up in 1950s Los Angeles enabled me to enjoy the warmth of the sun; palm trees; ocean breezes
and the sound of cool jazz. And gardens filled with vibrant colors of bougainvillea, roses, camellias and
gladiolas.
When enjoying the quiet of the day, memories of these sensations lead me to explore color, movement
and texture. Color has a great impact on my art. I love using different medium. My work ranges from
representational to abstract. The medium is selected according to my purpose and mood; oil pastels,
with their creamy texture and many colors; oil paints to create serenity in representational landscapes;
and acrylic paints for the joy of quick strokes and movement to create abstracts.
The only message for me to convey is one of joy. I want the viewer to feel happy, or perhaps intrigued,
when they enjoy the color, the movement and the texture of my art.
Joan Wiberg
Plein air painting, or “painting outdoors” is the foundation for all of the paintings included in this show. After many hours spent outdoors observing, I am able to see subtle light effects that I was blind to before. Color changes, shadows shift, light reveals. I search for the proper shade, accurate tint, or calming neutral.
The four seasons in Virginia facilitate this process. The browns and greys of winter give way to the lime greens and hot pinks of springtime, until summer rolls in and turns Virginia all sorts of green. Autumn is almost impossible to capture, with all of nature on fire with color before returning to the dormancy of winter.
The colors in my paintings are the colors that I have learned to see through experience on site and studying how other painters have addressed the landscape. The French impressionists and California Plein Air movement provide guidance when I feel stuck or need inspiration.
Beneath all of this, is the gift of having a group, the Fredericksburg Plein Air Painters, to paint with and encourage each other. The city of Fredericksburg and its surrounds provide endless opportunities for subject matter, historically and colorfully beautiful.
