January 23, 2019 | By Lynn Whitelaw
Drawings + Prints + Paintings
January 26 through March 22
Brooker Creek Preserve, Tarpon Springs
Opening Reception January 26 from 1-3 pm
More here
Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve presents Victoria Block: Tree Inspirations as the first exhibition of 2020 in the Auditorium Gallery.
Victoria is an American-born artist who lives in Montreal, but winters each year in Pinellas County. A multi-media artist, Block works in drawing, painting, printmaking, ceramic installation and mixed media assemblage.
For her exhibition in the Auditorium Gallery, some of her tree inspirations are based on observations made during visits to Brooker Creek Preserve last winter. She says of her approach, “my view of nature is an emotional interpretation… I evoke places that people love in their memories.”
Block’s highly personal landscapes vary by medium. Her large paintings are bright in color with loose renderings of trees, thickets and grasses created by dense textural layers of oil paint mixed with gesso and sand.
Her detailed drawings in pen and ink are meditative and often include subtle inscriptions such as poems and inspirational writings hidden within the overall patterns.
Likewise, her prints are created through a simple printmaking process combined with ink drawing. Block says of these works, “I want to show layers of figures and creatures like phantoms in tree bark, thinking of all that trees have witnessed moving around them while they are so stationary – so still.”
Printing Without a Press –
A Workshop by Victoria Block
Saturday, February 15
10 am to 1 pm
Victoria Block will teach a printmaking workshop on Saturday, February 15 in the Brooker Creek Preserve Environmental Education Center Classroom.
This introductory class requires no printmaking experience and is based on a simple printing process that resembles linocut, but without lengthy carving or need for a printing press.
The class is open to all artistic levels and is ideal for learning to make anything from simple cards to more complex mixed media artwork.
To register, email fobcp@tampabay.rr.com or call 727-934-2680. All materials are provided, and final projects include printing in several colors.
Cost for the workshop is $30 and limited to 15 participants. Bring a snack if you wish, but Friends of Brooker Creek Preserve will provide drinks and light refreshments.
