As the days and leaves from trees grow longer, it’s easy to see spring as a season of new light or awakening. For the Bayport-based arts organization, Women Sharing Art, the energy of awakening comes to life through the group’s latest exhibition of the same name, now on display at the BAFFA Art Gallery on Gillette Avenue in Sayville through the end of the month.
Pieces on display showcase the range of styles, mediums, and interpretations each member of the art collective brings to the public, with paintings and pictures of flowers and landscapes joined at the show with depictions of animals, and metaphorical stances on what “awakening” means to an artist.
Women Sharing Art has been busy at galleries across Suffolk County, with an ongoing show, “Visions of Freedom,” on display at the Suffolk County Historical Society Museum in Riverhead through Aug. 22, having taken up many members’ time and energy.
In creating the group’s annual May show at BAFFA, Sue Miller, Women Sharing Art president, said the theme of “awakening” fit the lingering mood after presenting a show as immense as “Visions of Freedom,” which reflects on America’s 250th anniversary through the lens of liberty and justice.
“Everybody takes that word ‘Awakenings’ and interprets what they want,” Miller said.
Many artists displayed floral depictions, like Karen Miller-O’Keefe’s bright yellow and pink photograph on canvas, “Awakening Dahlia,” Diana Aliberti’s watercolor “Apple Blossoms,” and Patricia Lind-Gonzalez’ “First Bloom,” featuring a field of crocuses beginning to bloom toward winter’s end.
Others showcased more landscape-focused scenes, such as Mireille Belajonas’s “Miracles,” a finely brushed watercolor depicting a mossy grove with purple and yellow flowers, which stands front and center as visitors walk into the gallery. Judith Caseley’s “Jungle” is a mixed-media nature scene, layered with vibrantly colored birds popping out and singing high above the canopy, while a curious leopard, spotted with gems, stalks from below.
Kathy Brown’s “Fallen Leaves Still Dance in The Wind” also showcases a natural scene, but instead transports the viewer into an illusory oil-painted autumn forest, with gold leaves blowing in the wind.
The gold leaves represent the life and spirit of Brown’s sister Janet, who died suddenly last November. Brown created her painting a little at a time over two to three weeks in honor of Janet.
“Even though their [the leaves’] time on the tree is done, it’s still beautiful to watch them drifting in the wind,” Brown said.
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