Scott and Elizabeth Hayes Christopher up to bat for doubleheader art openings

When Scott and Elizabeth Hayes Christopher return to Rehoboth Beach for dual art openings Sept. 20-21, art lovers in the seaside town will be offered a double dose of  the multimedia artists' creations on Wilmington and Baltimore avenues both Friday and Saturday evenings.

The artists are slated to open shows featuring paintings, photographs, sculpture, abstracts and other works from their collections at both Gallery 50 and Phillip Morton Gallery.

Scott's exhibit, titled Crescendo to See, will be on display at Gallery  50, at 50 Wilmington Ave., from Friday, Sept 20 to Friday, Oct. 18, providing an opportunity for him to reach out to the Cape Region and reacquaint himself with the beaches where he he spent his summers in childhood.

A Maryland native and modern-day Renaissance Man, Scott formerly played professional baseball with the Baltimore Orioles triple- and double-A teams;  he has also modeled for and taken award-winning photography. Scott also worked internationally as an artist and humanitarian. He founded a nonprofit foundation for the arts and even served as Michael Jackson's personal photographer in the 1990s.

The upcoming show will reflect multiple aspects of his unusual credentials and offer thought-provoking images of life, he said.

"My show is an example of the deep creative process we as human beings share and have a responsibility to excavate, explore and present," Scott wrote in an email.

Part of his collection includes photos of Scott playing baseball, first as a young ball player up to bat in an internationally acclaimed photo taken by his father called "Strike Three."  The artist also has a vast collection of press photos from his career as a star ballplayer for the University of Maryland and in Orioles triple- and double-A leagues.

The exhibit will also include some of his abstract and impressionist paintings, which the artist said he creates by painting with two hands.

Despite his success as both an athlete and artist, an injury he sustained to his throwing hand at age 6 has always been an obstacle, he said, requiring a surplus of creativity to operate at high levels with all but one nerve severed in that hand. In most areas of his life, Scott has been able to overcome his disability by developing an ambidextrous skill set.

Recently honored for a photo he took of Michael Jackson in 1990, Scott said a great deal of his drive for excellence was developed in baseball.

"From baseball, I learned discipline, intention, competitiveness, what it is like to become a champion, what it takes to become a champion." he wrote. "But most importantly, what it was like to dream away and actually live that dream, with teams of other dreamers."

Elizabeth Hayes Christopher is Scott's partner in this artistic tag team. A classically trained fine artist, Elizabeth is a poet, scholar, award-winning artist and her husband's muse.

"Elizabeth's art is of such depth and skill that it ignites my creative juices. Sometimes my brain explodes when I stare at one of her pieces," he said.

Married 10 years, the couple met in Santa Fe, N.M., and creative sparks flew immediately, she said

"We were creating together 18 hours after we met," Elizabeth wrote in an email. "Sharing life together offers us the rare and beautiful opportunity of experiencing each others' work, emotions, discoveries and insights every day. We live life immersed in the creative process."

They now split time and studio space between New Mexico and New York City.

Concurrent to Scott's openings, Elizabeth will be opening her new show, Circles and Light,  two blocks away at the Phillip Morton Gallery at 47 Baltimore Avenue, Rehoboth Beach.

"Circles and Light manifests this concept of passageways through the exploration of literal, figurative and metaphorical light, as well as the geometric, symbolic and emotional form of the circle." Elizabeth wrote. "It is important to me to create work that people can have a personal experience with."

For more information about Scott or Elizabeth Hayes Christopher, visit their websites at www.scottchristopherart.com and www.elizabethchristopherart.com.

For more information about Scott's upcoming opening at Gallery 50, slated to take place from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday, and Saturday, Sept. 20 and 21, contact Gallery 50 at 302-227-2050 or visit www.50contemporaryart.com.

For more information about Elizabeth's show, running at Phillip Morton Gallery, call 302-727-0905 or go to www.phillipmortongallery.com.