Group Pastel Show: "Not Your Mother's Pastels"

Waxlander Gallery presents its first Group Pastel Show, "Not Your Mother's Pastels," featuring new work by acclaimed artists Phyllis Randall, Marshall Noice and Sangita Phadke. Exhibit runs from June 5th to June 18th

Santa Fe, NM (prHWY.com) March 25, 2012 - Waxlander Gallery presents its first Group Pastel Show, "Not Your Mother's Pastels," featuring new work by acclaimed artists Phyllis Randall, Marshall Noice and Sangita Phadke. An Artists' Reception takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, June 8th.

Maryland painter Phyllis Randall, one of Waxlander's new artists, explores nature in her recent work, "Pastel, Pigment and Passion." "From potted plants to wildflowers and overgrown weeds, my work is sprouting a new floral element and texture," she says. She's also added a bit of whimsy to her new pieces, including the likeness of her cat Velcro, "who shows up from time to time in unexpected places in some of the paintings," she says.

Randall's travels to the Mediterranean have given her a new way to work with light. "I studied how the different angles of the sun and the time of day influence the architecture; the diffused sun in Tuscany as opposed to the severity of the sun in Santorini," she says. "The similarities and differences have sharpened my eye to the play of sunlight in Santa Fe."

Randall describes her style as "Cubism-inspired Art meets Architecture" and her biggest influence as Georgia O'Keeffe. "It was her use of simple shapes and color that I relate to," she says. "I've always felt that I saw things through similar eyes; that my mind breaks subjects down to their least complex and basic form, shapes, planes and colors as depicted in most of O'Keefe's works. Even her earliest paintings of New York City through her window have that basic quality of light and shadow, geometry and depth that I so admire."

Montana artist Marshall Noice's recent work, "New Horizons," reflects the inspiration he finds painting in U.S. National Parks. "We took a trip last spring to paint in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park," Noice says. "My wife Jackie and I had a wonderful time. Our nearby parks--Glacier, Yellowstone and Grand Teton--have always been sources of inspiration for me, and I've spent lots of time painting there over the years. I'm looking forward to seeing more of our country's National Parks."

In recent work, Noice's painting process included layering imagery, adding an overlay of highly abstract color fields to the initial oil sketch then restating the original compositional concept in heavier paint. "This technique yields a highly complex finished painting, where the references to the landscape emerge and recede from more abstract color fields," Noice says. "This adds elements of visual release tension to the painting."

New Jersey artist Sangita Phadke fills her paintings with vibrant colors and textures inspired by the spring season. "Every week new flowers, fruits and vegetables flood the markets and I am the first in line to get my hands on them," she says. "I am on a never-ending quest to find bold, colorful and exciting subject matter that will inspire me to create my next painting."

Phadke is a natural storyteller who creates narratives for her paintings that evolve as she paints and finish when she signs the piece. "The titles of my paintings give a little hint to the story and I hope that collectors will read the titles and imagine what the story may be," she says.

For instance, "Taking a Bow" evolved while Phadke was painting a series of pears and noticed that one had a dramatic bend in the middle. "I placed it in a bright spotlight and my story was clear," she says. "I thought of this pear as the star of a Broadway play who had just finished a performance. While taking his final bow, the crowd erupts in a standing ovation that leaves the pear overjoyed."

"Not Your Mother's Pastels" is on view June 5th through June 18th. Images and interviews are available upon request.

Artists:
Phyllis Randall, Marshall Noice, Sangita Phadke

WHEN:
Exhibit runs from June 5th to June 18th
Reception for the Artists is Friday, June 8th, 5pm to 7pm

Where:
Waxlander Gallery and Sculpture Garden
622 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501
800-342-2202
505-984-2202
mailto: art@waxlander.com
www.waxlander.com
Open daily 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM

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Tag Words: paintings, artists, group pastel show, architecture

Categories: Arts

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