Hues of harvest season
Two-artist show
From November 1 through November 20, Cheri Christensen and Robert Moore will bring autumn to Insight Gallery with their exhibition Into the Outdoors.
“Fall always reminds me of saturated colors, the crispness in the air and spending time enjoying the outdoors,” says gallery director Elizabeth Harris. “Both artists are expressive with color, generous with their paint, decisive with their brush and bring nature to the viewer. The vibrant work of Into the Outdoors will bring a breath of fresh (fall) air into the gallery and we’re looking forward to it.”
Based in Idaho, Moore brings the wideopen spaces that surround him to his often large-scale landscapes, employing the use of vivid colors and frequent high-keyed values. His studio is filled with tools such as
loaded brushes, palette knives, trowels, rags, squeegees, house painting brushes and knife spatulas which he uses to pack thick layers of paint onto the canvas—resulting in works meant to be simple in design while searching for an effect of light.
“I hope that collectors will notice a maturity in my surface work—i.e. the texture and characteristics of the marks of paint on the canvas,” Moore says. “I am striving to create the feel of natural chords of color that I see in a hillside, a rock, or the bark of a tree. I want my paintings to feel like an accurate glance into a beautiful moment of light upon the landscape.”
In the tradition of Russian impressionists, Christensen also utilizes a strong color palette to convey the effects of color and light on form. Her work primarily takes the shape of wildlife, woodland creatures and farm animals, which are frequently backlit—reflecting each creature’s individual personality while inspiring whimsy and Christensen’s desire to connect with the simple pleasures and beauty of nature.
“Whether they are domesticated or wild animals, I like to show how they relate to their own environment and to myself in it,” says the artist. “I love late afternoon and early evening light, what it does to color and how it magically transforms a simple setting. I want to share this vision with my viewer to help connect them with the simple pleasures and beauty of nature. In Fredericksburg Local, I’ve captured a fleeting moment, the moment I’ve interrupted the deer’s evening. It’s aware of me and sizing up the situation and will be gone in a flash, but for a moment I am a part of its world, admiring how the light grazed its form.”