SERENE SCENES
Washington Society of Landscape Painters
Principle Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia, hosts the Washington Society of Landscape Painters show, exhibiting works from artists who are part of one of the oldest active art organizations in the greater Washington metropolitan area. Artists in the upcoming show include Web Bryant, Lisa Egeli, Brenda Kidera, Christine Lashley and Sara Linda Poly.
An oil on panel by Kidera, Tranquility, is a top-down scene of water flowers and lily pads over a serene pond. “The gardens and wildlife on my property provide endless inspiration for my work. Tranquility is a bird’s-eye view portrait of one of my lily ponds,” Kidera says of the piece. “It is an enjoyable interplay of dramatic light, shadows and reflections. With the exception of a very small area, no green pigments were used. I worked on this painting over the course of nine months, carefully balancing the elements for a pleasing design. The dragonfly was the finishing touch.”
Poly’s oil A Beautiful Longing describes her “search for beauty, especially in the skies, that I carry with me each day. The ‘longing’ to absorb that found beauty into one’s self and then share it.”
Four oil paintings demonstrating concepts Lashley is currently exploring will be presented in the upcoming show: cityscapes and natural landscapes with water reflections. “The goal of this new body of work is to embrace and embellish refracted light and sparkle but to reduce superfluous detail,” says the artist. Her oil on linen Brook Cascade has an impressionistic feel, with conspicuous brushstrokes. The piece exudes an air of calm tranquility while simultaneously bringing to mind the sound of rushing water.
“My painting Silk and Wool is based on plein air studies and shows a tidal creek next to my home by the Chesapeake Bay,”
says Egeli. “The creek is a muse for me, and I’ve painted many views of it over the last 20 years. The boathouse has been there for many years even as the creek has silted in and the salt marsh along the shores has eroded. In Silk and Wool, the comfort of a warm, soft diffused light is paired with the sharp chill of a frosty snowfall, all in a place of unique beauty and vulnerability. Tundra swans, winter visitors to the area, fly by almost invisibly.”
The Washington Society of Landscape Painters exhibition will be on view beginning February 21 with an opening reception from 6:30 to 9 p.m. The show will be up through March 15.
Principle Gallery
208 King Street • Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 739-9326 • www.principlegallery.com