Juried Art Exhibition at Ardest Gallery

A new show called Material Matters

I’m very lucky to have been selected to participate in a juried group exhibition at The Ardest Gallery in The Woodlands, Texas.

If you’re not familiar with the concept, a juried exhibition is one where not every artist who applies is accepted. The work is reviewed and selected by a juror, in this case, artist Benji Stiles. Once the selections were made, gallery owner Julie Verville curated and installed the show, thoughtfully placing each piece so the exhibition works as a cohesive whole.

The exhibition is called Material Matters, and the artists interpreted that theme in wonderfully different ways. Some focused on texture, others explored mixed media, and all of these approaches feel right at home together. The result is a truly lovely and cohesive exhibit, and I feel incredibly honored to be included.

The show will be up through the end of the month, so if you’re in the Houston area, I hope you’ll stop by Ardest Gallery and take a look. In addition to the juried exhibition, the gallery’s regularly represented artists are also on display, so there’s a little something for every taste.

About My Piece: Island

The piece I have in the show is called Island. It’s a highly textured acrylic painting on canvas, measuring 24 x 36 inches.

The inspiration behind this painting is actually a bit unexpected. I was flying to California when we passed over a desert town where nearly every backyard had a swimming pool. From the airplane window, I saw a patchwork of rectangular and kidney-shaped blue and turquoise forms scattered across the brown desert landscape. From above, it looked almost like an island, bright pools of color surrounded by a sea of sand.

Of course, the beauty of abstract work is that the artist’s original inspiration is only one small part of the story. Once a piece is finished and shared, it becomes a conversation rather than a statement. Viewers bring their own experiences, symbols, and emotions, and their interpretation is just as valid as mine.

Abstract art doesn’t try to describe reality. It invites us to respond to it. We each see what we see, and that personal reaction is what makes the experience of art so meaningful.