“Elixir” Acrylic on canvas 40 x 28 2011Susan E. Walker
Susan E. Walker:
Passageways
Main Gallery
The distinct shapes of the land and sea in the San Juan Islands have a lulling sameness. And yet…as an archipelago, the countless islands make navigating each passageway a dizzying maze. Our lives can seem like that…there can be a lulling sameness to the every day. To who we each are. And yet, our choices create passageways to a maze of new catastrophes and triumphs that mark our lifelong path.
“The Guide Appears” Oil on Canvas 40 x 34 inches 2011
Painter Susan E. Walker dipped into the intersection of art and psychology for her inspiration, the archetypal ‘hero’s journey’. Each piece in this series portrays a “passageway”…a portal to what comes next. Outcome unpredictable until one rounds the corner.
If the ‘hero’ can master the steps, so can we.
The cycle will repeat itself with new faces, dramas, and camouflages, but we can move forward with more awareness and, therefore, less trepidation. The repetition of cycles over a lifetime produces wisdom. I am older; I know. And, these paintings are my way of working through and sharing with you.
Jim Pirie:
That Which We Have Wrought
Small Gallery
“Urban Fields”
As a species we are driven to create things in an attempt to reflect on and respond to the world around us. Our cities mimic canyons and stands of trees, our roadways resemble great rivers of asphalt and concrete and our machinery can look like great beasts. If we loosen our focus on that which we have wrought, take an abstract view of our surroundings, is the line between our nature and our hand that crisp?
In this new exhibition, Jim has turned his eye on our urban landscapes. Where we live and work, our buildings, roads and homes are all reflections of our natural world.
In using our Urban Landscape as his subject, Jim has looked for our connection to the world around us and our inspiration from nature as we continually shape and reshape our world. In viewing these works, Jim’s hope is that the viewer will find renewed inspiration in the Urban Landscape of our daily lives and look for the nature that is woven into the world we have created.
