Press release:
Victoria Voner and Irene Stapleford, both lifelong artists, with parents and grandparents who painted, carved, knitted, quilted, and demonstrated a love for making beautiful and useful things, have been friends and co-workers for more than a decade, but have never shown their paintings together until now. Gallery Z in Lowell will host "Movement of the Seasons," a two-person Art Reception from Oct 28 through Nov 20, 2022, with an opening reception Sunday, Nov 6 from 2-4pm.
Irene and Tory met in 2011 when they both began working as technical graphic artists and designers. Both artists have pursued their passion for painting during their evenings and weekends, enjoying New England's ever-changing scenery, landscape, seasons and color. "Movement of the Seasons" is a tribute to the natural beauty readily seen in Massachusetts, and a testament to two artists' dedication to expression in acrylic paint, charcoal, and water media. Both artists found landscape painting to be therapeutic and calming when the world turned upside down in 2020, with the pandemic moving people to turn inward, spend time alone, and especially to find comfort in the steady and timeless presence of the natural world. A great deal of progress in the artistic journey was made by both artists during this time, and they have each generated an engaging body of new work as a result. Tory works in her studio in Lowell and also travels around New England for plein air painting and drawing, and Irene works in her studio at home, at the Bradford Mill, and outdoors in her neighborhood in West Concord and other scenic spots in Boston and Maine.
These paintings speak to many aspects of landscape and the changing seasons: the gestural qualities of tree branches, colors of the sky, delicacy of flowers, movement of water, forms of shadow and light, and of course the peace and fulfillment found via spending time in nature. Both artists are looking forward to the conversation their works will have with each other on the gallery's walls. Color, line, gesture, movement, energy, and painterly approach to landscape shine from each and every painting.
Above: a sampling of artwork, and the movement of our brushstrokes. First two, Victoria Voner, second two, Irene Stapleford.