Magical Pears Ripe For Viewing At Fall Art Show

My art is bearing fruit, literally: jurors for the Chicago Alliance Of Visual Artists selected my painting Magical Orchard Pears to display in CAVA's upcoming End Of Year Exhibition at the noted Bridgeport Art Center here in Chicago. 

The show will be up Monday, November 16, through Friday, January 1, 2027 in Bridgeport Art Center, 1200 W. 35th St., Chicago, in the 3rd Floor Gallery.

Visiting gives you a great way to honor the seasons and their annual shifts by enjoying art and beauty - especially the beauty of fall and harvest time as seen through my Magical Orchard Pears watercolor.

(And my painting has a connection to winter as well - read on to see why.)

Join Me At The Opening: Friday, November 20

Meet me at Bridgeport Art Center for the opening reception, which will be held Friday, November 20, from 6 to 9 p.m. Admission is free.

I will attend the opening, and it will be fun to gather with you to enjoy the exhibition and share my painting and its story with you.

Also during the reception, the show's jurors, Kaitlyn Miller, director of Jackson Junge Gallery, and Yaounde Olu, PhD, founder the Osun Center for the Arts in Chicago (who also curated the Color Songs Show that displayed two of my paintings earlier this year), will announce the winners of an array of prizes, from best in show to awards of excellence to honorable mentions.

About Magical Orchard Pears

Magical Orchard Pears presents two branches bearing delicate ripe pears.

Created in watercolor, its paper (handmade shuen paper with a sparkly “fallen snow” coating, hand mounted onto handmade cotton paper) adds to the magic by shimmering and sparkling when seen at an angle. The painting floats freely above a dark green mat that brings out both papers' delicacy and translucency, and a golden frame encloses all to create a large finished work whose powerful presence radiates stillness.

The composition creates balance and a great sense of peace through repeating twos: two branches, two sets of two pears, and repeating sets of two leaves.

The ripe pears bring a classic image of autumn, while the paper's snow-like surface hints not only at nature's magical abundance but the inevitable winter that follows fall. In this way, the painting spans the seasons and provides a universal, timeless feeling.

Although I painted this piece during a trip to America's Southwest, in New Mexico, the painting's title pays homage to Homer's Odyssey, which I read for the first time this year. The Odyssey's seventh book struck me deeply because it provides a peaceful contrast to the story's frequent fighting and misfortune. In that seventh book, a shipwrecked Odysseus comes upon the rich Phaeacian couple Arete and Alcinous’s radiant and abundant orchard.

This painting’s title evokes Book 7’s orchard and its magical ability to bear fruit continually throughout the year. Pears hold a special place in the Odyssey: the author mentions them repeatedly throughout the story, with the first mention in Book 7 when describing this special place. The story tells us the orchard holds "mellowing pear on mellowing pear" and that they and other fruits grow perpetually, year round.

Imagine Odysseus's feelings on seeing the pears following six books of sadness, shipwreck, trauma, and grief; his astonishment mirrors our own when we finally reach this peaceful “place” in the story. Nature’s timeless, universal quality makes this subject relevant to our time: pears transcend time and culture, location and language. You can eat them out of hand, right from the tree…the rich juice perfuming the air, dribbling down your chin…an abundance that unites humanity regardless of place, status, or economics.

See More Nature Paintings

You can enjoy more of my nature paintings in the many collections available here on my website:

• Visit the Colorful Horizons collection for vibrant, semi-abstract watercolor landscapes
• See my Flower Collections for colorful watercolors that celebrate nature's beauty through flowers

More About CAVA

The Chicago Alliance of Visual Artists (CAVA) is a volunteer not-for-profit organization founded in 1988 to serve artists age 50+. It offers members throughout the Chicago area opportunities to exhibit artwork in notable venues. It also organizes events for members to come together; besides exhibitions, it presents salons, member luncheons, workshops, an annual symposium, and special events.

Bridgeport Art Center Location, Hours

Bridgeport Art Center is a multi-disciplinary creative home for artists, designers, and professionals working across various art forms, media, and vocations. It occupies a massive historic Chicago warehouse repurposed to house art galleries as well as artist studios; the Fashion Design Center, Chicago Ceramic Center, Skyline Loft, and Sculpture Garden Gallery; and several businesses.

Gallery and office hours are Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 8 a.m. to noon. 

Bridgeport Art Center is located at 1200 W. 35th St. in Chicago. To visit, enter on the building's north side off of Racine Avenue and 34th Place. Parking is available on the north side of the building; visitors may be directed to additional parking areas if needed during large or multiple events.

For more information, call (773) 843-9000.