April Openings at Touchstone Gallery (Opening April 8)

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NEW DATE Opening Reception: Friday, April 8 from 6pm to 8:30pm

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Artist Talk: Saturday, April 23 from 5pm to 7pm

GALLERY A
The Bloom is On
Continuously growing and experimenting. Touchstone member artists present works of color and pattern illuminated by the spring’s early light. Paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs, collages, and hand-pulled prints reveal an interest in the riot of springtime growth, unfolding cherry blossoms, and the renewal of life in general.

GALLERY B
Between Two Worlds by Rob Goebel
Through the abstract of our reality, we find another world where we can see beyond our feelings…
Rob has introduced a new realm of abstract expressionism and action painting into his work. Working with gestural and aggressive brush strokes, he gives light to his rich and vibrant color palette. The paintings are colorful gestural abstractions of another reality with symbolic meaning of a dreamlike utopian state of mind.

GALLERY C
Earth House by Rosemary Luckett
In her April solo exhibition, Earth House, Rosemary Luckett shifts her topical focus from human formed earth blankets to living organisms that beckon to her. To describe the nature portion of the human biosphere story, she concentrated on mixed media collage, and then put together a book of poems about these enigmatic images.

“I’ve become more appreciative of how complex biosystems are, and the delicate relationships between other life forms and us,” Luckett states. “In this series of collage artwork, I pay attention to divine articulations of the Natural World by meditating on living things and air, soil, and water.” While concentrating on a few of the myriad life forms that beckon to her, Luckett gathers assorted recycled materials then cuts, pastes, and paints to create her collages. Through this meditative process she concludes that each life form, though veiled, is but a mask of The Great Face Behind, the Mysterious Dreaming Creator. Some of her images are obvious masks, while others vary in composition.

Luckett is inspired by Northwest Coast Indian transformation masks and Southwestern retablos. Some works are framed in wooden shrines to emphasize their iconic nature. The framework for Luckett’s thought process was built, in part, by Loren Eisely, author of The Immense Journey. She pondered the impressive achievement and adaptive competence of living creatures who preceded humans, begetting more diverse and complex forms over 3.5 billion years on a fiercely wild and often inhospitable planet.

Earth House is Luckett’s sixth earth-themed solo exhibition at Touchstone Gallery aligning with and commemorating Earth Day, a time to meditate on our connection to the planet that we call home. Luckett exhibits at Touchstone Gallery and other galleries in the region. She teaches collage at the Art League School in Alexandria and maintains a studio in the woods of northern Virginia.

Gallery Hours:

• Wednesday – Friday: 12pm to 6pm
• Saturday – Sunday: 12pm to 5pm

Touchstone Gallery is located at 901 New York Ave. NW. For more information, visit www.touchstonegallery.com.