PRESS RELEASE for Thomas Spande: Drawings of Pachyderms / and 4 Mini-Shows

Animals and gardens coming to local art gallery

From Aug. 8 through Sept. 14, the Middle Street Gallery in Sperryville will offer an extensive collection of drawings by member artist Thomas Spande as well as smaller collections of works by four other members of the artists cooperative.  

Spande will exhibit more than 20 new drawings of Pachyderms – “a virtual herd of elephants, a crash of rhinos, and a pod of hippos” – all done in pencil on heavy paper. The energetic drawings tell of the artist's interest in cross-hatching and lyric line quality while exploring the inner life of these incredible and endangered animals.

Carl Zitzmann, a new gallery member, will exhibit digital photographs ranging from traditional "found" subjects to studio compositions and challenging abstract visions. Meanwhile, Leslie Hilton, another new member, will offer paintings “of my travels, from Turkey to Canada and back.”

Ann Currie will show “the essential contours of simple garden plants,” inspired by the clean, incisive line drawings of Ellsworth Kelly. The drawings are created in ink on an acrylic painted wood panel surface that is finished with multiple layers of encaustic, pigments mixed with hot wax that are burned in as an inlay.

Finally, Nancy Brittle will offer the public her vision of Summer in the Garden. Says Brittle, “I have been vacationing in my garden and in the fields around our small town, looking at the familiar lay of the land, noting the changes in color and the summer advances, and enjoying the quiet moment.”

(the art from left to right: Leslie Hilton, Ann Currie, Nancy Brittle, Carl Zitzmann)

The gallery will hold an opening reception for the artists and the public from 3pm until 5pm on Sat., August 9.

Located at Rappahannock Central at 3 River lane in Sperryville, the gallery is open Fri., Sat. and Sun. from 11 AM until 6 PM. For more information, please visit http://www.middlestreetgallery.org/ or call 540-987-9330.

Submitted by Gary Anthes