Double Wonderful Art Show - Opening Reception 4/10

Two Of My Paintings Chosen For 'Beautiful Noise' Show

I'm thrilled to tell you that not one but two of my flower paintings will be on view in a new art show, A Beautiful Noise, which will be held Monday, April 6, through Saturday, May 2, at McCord Gallery & Cultural Center in Palos Park, IL, a suburb southwest of Chicago. 

Curators for the show chose my pieces Gentle Hope (Cascade) and Perfect Peace (The Sound Of Butterfly Wings). I'm excited to share these uplifting paintings with you.

Join Me At The Art Opening April 10

McCord Gallery will host a special artist reception on Friday, April 10, from 6 to 8 p.m.

Please join me: I will attend the opening, and I'm looking forward to seeing you and sharing my paintings with you. If you have friends and family who love art, please feel free to bring them - many of my collectors do that, and it's always great fun meeting everyone who comes out to my openings and making new friends.

Also, both pieces are available for purchase and would make wonderful additions to your art collection.

How Artists Get Into Shows: Why Multiple Artworks In A Show Is So Special

I want to tell you more about the two paintings you'll experience when you come to the show. But first I wanted to say why it's special having multiple artworks chosen for a show.

Whenever you go to an art show that has work by several artists, generally all the artists participating applied to be part of the show by sending in images and information about their work.

The curator or jury for each show reviews all the entries and makes selections based on the vision or guidelines for the exhibit. Usually, they choose one piece from each artist...but in rare cases they might choose more than one piece.

That's what happened to me with A Beautiful Noise.

And that's why I'm calling this show "Double Wonderful"!

Having one piece chosen for a show is super wonderful. But having two picked? That's DOUBLE the joy, the fun, the wonderfulness.

About Gentle Hope (Cascade)

Here I am with the two paintings that are in A Beautiful Noise.

The one at left is called Gentle Hope (Cascade) and was inspired by the lilacs that bloom here in the Chicago area every May.

Is there anything more heavenly than that heady scent of lilacs in the air, when spring is here to stay and the air is warm and carries the flowers' perfume with every breeze?

It's that feeling, that memory, I wanted to capture in this painting.

I hope you can come to the show to see it because it's painted on a rare and special paper: artisans made a traditional transparent Asian paper, by hand, and then added a coating on the front that looks like a sea of sparkles.

It's a magical yet subtle effect. I love how the sparkles give the idea of sparkly snow in sunshine, and this painting carries the hope during winter when we can feel spring is coming and will bring not only warmth but beautiful flowers.

I updated the name from Gentle Hope for this show to Gentle Hope (Cascade) because the lilacs look like a cascading waterfall (or flower fall). Just gaze at this painting, and hear in your mind's ear the sound of gentle water flowing and laughing.

As with nearly all my paintings on Asian paper, I mounted this piece myself, by hand, using age old techniques and a second type of handmade paper made of cotton. The custom framing shows off both of these beautiful, see-through papers by using a dark mat, floating the painting over the mat, and encasing the entire piece in a complementary frame.

About Perfect Peace (The Sound Of Butterfly Wings)

Here is the second painting of mine in the show.

It celebrates the beauty of a warm day in late spring, when it's utterly still.

It's the opposite of noise or sound - or it's a special kind of sound, which is silence or "no sound."

We all need stillness and silence.

This painting captures that precious gift of quiet by giving you a lovely and cooling white hyacinth who's about the welcome a visit from a delicate pink butterfly.

As with the other piece, I hope you get to see this painting in person. It's created on a delicate, gold-dusted paper in a pale peach color. This rare paper, also handmade, is perhaps the subtlest available because you have to get up very close to see the gold sprinkles on it. (As if they're secret sprinkles.)

For this exhibition, I added the butterfly wings part to the title because our human hearing doesn't make out the sound of butterflies flying, and so they travel in a magical stillness that fits perfectly with this painting and with the show's theme.

Also, I did hand mount this piece myself, using the traditional techniques and my favorite handmade cotton mounting paper. The painting floats on a gentle blue-gray mat to highlight the papers' translucency, and the entire piece is enclosed in a custom, silvery frame. 

See More Flower Paintings

You can see more of my flower watercolors in the Flower Collections area of this website. 

Check out the Branching Out collection for vibrant colors on interesting, often rugged branches.

Or see the Spring Morning collection for the wonder of flowers when life bursts forth in springtime or the Gentle Flowers collection for delicate blossoms to make you smile or to bring calm to you and your space.

About 'A Beautiful Noise'

McCord Gallery & Cultural Center created the show A Beautiful Noise to celebrate the power of sound and its beauty, energy, and ability to move us.

The organizers felt inspired by the idea that a single noise can carry memory, emotion, and influence, and this exhibition explores how sound can be seen rather than heard. They encouraged artists to join in this concept by interpreting the concept of "noise" or "sound" through 2- and 3D artworks.

The original pieces on view show how an artwork's line, color, rhythm, or texture might echo harmonies, disruptions, and resonances of sounds that shape our lives. Visitors to the gallery will enjoy a mix of art media, from wall art to sculpture and from painting and drawing to mixed media and pastels and other forms of art that fit with the show's vision.

McCord Gallery Location, Hours

McCord Gallery & Cultural Center is located at 9602 W. Creek Rd. in Palos Park, IL, a suburb southwest of Chicago.

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gallery is closed on Sundays.

For more information, call 708.671.0648, email office@mccordgallery.org, or visit www.mccordgallery.org.