The Color Red exhibit to open at Gallery One March 31
Gallery One’s next exhibit, The Color Red, will be open to the public from Wednesday, March 31 to Tuesday, April 27.
Red draws attention like no other color. Emotionally and as a design element, red screams dominance.
As the warmest and most dynamic color, red triggers opposing emotions. While cool colors like green and blue are generally considered peaceful and calming, red is linked to passion and love, and also to power, anger and danger. Symbolically, red is associated both with Cupid and the devil, and studies have shown that the mere sight of red can increase a person’s heart rate, elevate blood pressure and increase respiration, naturally causing energy levels to spike.
“The Red Sea Shell” artist Eileen Olson shared how squeezing the red acrylic paint onto her palette immediately elicits a strong, passionate feeling of power in her. Red dominates the composition, and the swirling shape of the seashell pulls in and excites the viewer. Fellow artists Jeanne Mueller with “Flora and Fauna,” mixed media, and Mary B. Boyd with “Love You More,” mixed media, also allow viewers to truly feel the color’s emotion.
The use of red to direct the eye is at work in Lesley McCaskill’s acrylic, “The Red Umbrella.” The composition is filled with calming blues and greens, creating a background for the red umbrella to pop dramatically. McCaskill said in real life, she recommends a red umbrella to keep companions oriented on a crowded beach day.
Also using red as a design element is Laura Hickman in her pastel, “Red and Green.” As complementary colors on the color wheel, placing red and green near each other in a painting creates a double whammy. Hickman’s painting of a charming Italian street scene vibrates with energy.
Marybeth Paterson’s oil painting, “Red Roses,” draws the eye to her lively subject. W. Scott Broadfoot’s oil, “Cardinal and Pomegranate,” delivers a classical rendition of a red cardinal with red pomegranate seeds, both of which symbolize passion, laid against a backdrop of green.
In “Field of Tulips,” an acrylic by Dale Sheldon, the canvas is filled with tulips. Among octagonal shapes of varying size and color, the dominance of the red directs the viewer’s eye and conveys the emotion of spring in all it is chaotic, passionate abundance.
In Joyce Condry’s acrylic painting, “Red Sails,” tumultuous blues and aquas and are snapped into focus by the electric red of sailboat sails navigating the turbulent sea. And finally, in Michelle Marshall’s “Red Glade in Evening,” the usually benign marshland catches fire as the glow of sunset illuminates the landscape, with the cool blues of the water providing an eye-popping contrast.
Always staffed by an artist, Gallery One is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day at 32 Atlantic Ave., Route 26, in Ocean View. Face masks and social distancing are required. To ensure the safety of all, the number of visitors at any one time may be limited.
For more information, call 302-537-5055, email art@galleryonede.com or go to galleryonede.com.
