Three of the galleries participating in this Friday’s opening are the Venue Fine Art & Gifts, By Hand Gallery and Gather handmade shoppe & co.
The Venue and Gather will display paintings, while By Hand will play host to a collaborative show filled with handmade crafts.
Rodney Reveal, an artist from Noblesville, Indiana now working out of the town of Arcadia, will display his oil paintings of farms and landscapes at The Venue starting Friday. Reveal said he displayed in Bloomington years ago and looks forward to coming back to the art-rich town.
“Bloomington’s always been a very active community with the college, and I like that,” Reveal said. “The areas surrounding Bloomington inspires me, so I’m excited about being in the show this Friday.”
Reveal said he started painting many years ago with watercolors, but transitioned slowly to oil as his medium. He said his experience with the watercolors gave him skills in planning ahead, which give him an advantage.
The paintings in this show range from as recently as two weeks ago to a couple of years back and cover subject matter Reveal said always inspires him .
“It’s just kind of what I’m drawn to,” Reveal said. “Right now, impressionist painting is probably the biggest painting form you’ll find, especially in the Midwest. I try to paint what I enjoy. I try to represent a feeling that I have into my paintings, so hopefully I convey that to the public.”
Gather will welcome painter Claire Woods and a collection of her watercolor pieces of varying sizes. Woods said some of the pieces will feature hand lettering, and many of them have a natural vibe.
“My inspiration most often comes from my love for nature as well as my love for letters,” Woods said. “At a young age, I spent hours watching my father hand-letter signs, cut out vinyl, sketch and paint. My sisters and I spent a lot of time outside surrounded by an abundance of plants, fruits, vegetables and birds.”
Woods said this will be her debut show in a gallery, and she looks forward to sharing her pieces with the public for the first time. As an artist of less than two years, she said she looks forward to further growth in her craft.
“I want to keep learning,” Woods said. “I am in the beginning stages of my work as an artist, and I still have a lot to learn. I am excited to continue practicing my hand lettering and working on larger scale projects.”
Tova Lesko, manager of By Hand Gallery and an artist herself, said the latest show at the gallery will be a collective celebration of craft, called “Bundle Up with By Hand.”
“This show is a little different from our past shows, in that it is a collaborative show,” Lesko said. “Generally, our shows will highlight the work of just one artist, but this show displays the art work of eight fiber artists that By Hand Gallery regularly represents.”
The variety of form and inspiration is one that is well represented in events with multiple artists, Lesko said.
“One artist may focus in on upcycling and sustainability, another may gather inspiration from Ivory Coast textiles and channel that into artfully crafted double-weave scarves, yet another may be exploring the world through natural dyes and focusing on where color comes from,” Lesko said.
Lesko said the best part of First Fridays is the bridging of artists and the general public and the warm and inviting atmosphere.The offer of wearable products also makes By Hand’s show stand out, Lesko said.
“We are most looking forward to being able to offer the community a show that features art which is accessible to everyone,” Lesko said. “They are both beautiful and functional, so there is something for everyone at this show.”
