Back in Blue

A new year is now here, which means time for a members Salon show.  This has been the tradition around here for several years.  These shows may or may not have a theme, but what is a given is that participants are invited to spend a few minutes presenting their piece to the crowd- talking about what gave them the idea, or about their process, the history of the piece- whatever they think is significant. The results can be very informative.  We had almost 50 pieces in this year's show, which filled both front and back galleries, with a mix of paintings, photographs, drawings, sculptures, prints, fabric pieces, and mixed media creations, all having the common element of "blue"

So what is blue?  We had a show in this same building last year, one of our Youth Art shows, that dealt with this same theme.  Too good a theme not to let the adults of the world take a crack at it.  For this show, it's any connotation that word has for you.  Could be the color, could be an emotional state, a form of music, or anything else.  The exhibited works show this variety of approaches, and the discussions in the Salon reflected all this.

The curator of this show is a BelmarArts member, Denise Van Dyke, who also functioned as the coordinator of tonight's Salon.  People started gradually drifting in and before long we were ready to go, all wearing our name tags made from blue painter's tape.

So we did get a good crowd.  The majority of pieces in the show were also represented with their creators present.  A lot of things were learned.

Most years we just stick with the work in the front room, maybe having artists talk about one or two things that were hung in the back, but this year the Salon included almost every work in the building.

Unfortunately, the Salon is over and all the artists went home.  The good news is that the show itself remains on display during regular gallery hours through February 16, 2018.  So if you are feeling blue, or want to feel blue, stop by the Boatworks and check out some cool colored artwork.