Artful Blooms

Spring has officially sprung — and what better way to stop and smell the roses than with the Lake Granbury Art Association’s Artful Blooms Art Show?

Open to the public now through April 12 at the Shanley House Art Gallery, LGAA’s Artful Blooms Small Group Art Show features artwork in a variety of mediums surrounding the beautiful springtime favorite: flowers.

"There was a group of eight artists that got together that belong to LGAA," member Sue Bagwell told the Hood County News. “We were all painting flowers at the time, and we said, ‘Let's do a floral show.' We change the exhibit once a month, and there are several exhibits that are for the entire LGAA membership, but then there are other months that are open if somebody wants to do a group show."

Artful Blooms is a collection of exotic, alluring and surreal floral works of art, according to the LGAA website. The artists who created these works are diverse in the use of their media such as oil, acrylic, watercolor and collage with an intermixture of techniques.

Artist Gayle Bunch served as chairperson for the Artful Blooms Small Group Art Show. Others who contributed to the show include: Eole Ernspiger, Irma Ward, Linda Doutre, Margie Whittington, Paula Pillow, Suzanne McNeill and Bagwell.

“Everybody has a different style, which I think just really adds to any show, but this group has painted together off and on for the last seven or eight years,” Bagwell said. “We just kind of meet together in someone's home and paint.”

She explained that for this show, each artist created anywhere from five to 12 pieces and used a variety of mediums for every creation.

“You can see so many different styles from realism to totally nonobjective, or abstract," Bagwell explained. “Some are even learning more toward fantasy.”

Bagwell showed off one of her creations and said her style involves painting negatively, where an artist paints around the subject rather than on the subject.

"All my flowers were sort of made up,” she said. “It was already a painting, and I didn't care for it. It was a portrait, so I turned it upside down and where there was a suggestion of flowers, I made flowers. It’s just painting negatively and finding your shape.”

The current Artful Blooms display is available for viewing Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. and Sunday 1-4 p.m. at the Shanley House Gallery, 224 N. Travis St.

“Everything that's up here is for sale,” Bagwell said. “I would also love to encourage the public to attend our Last Saturday Gallery Night Meet the Artist event.”

The Meet the Artist event will be held Saturday, March 30, from 5-8 p.m., also at the Shanley House Gallery.

“We're right here on the verge of spring,” Bagwell said. “And I think flowers are something that everybody can enjoy."

She said during the art shows, she often asks attendees and young children to tell her their favorite painting as it “challenges the person to look a little closer.”

“It’s all creativity and it fits every aspect of life,” she said. “We did put on a really great spread, so it's worth it to come for that if nothing else.”

Bagwell also encourages Hood County residents to become a member of the Lake Granbury Art Association.

“Our building is fabulous, and I feel like the Lake Granbury Art Association is almost a hidden treasure here,” she said. “One of the ways I think we're special is that there's people who say, ‘Oh, I've always wanted to paint, but I just don't know how.’ We offer so many different levels of people who paint. You don't even have to call yourself an artist because it's for everybody at every level.”

LGAA offers workshops and different classes, like the Monday Portrait Class from 9 a.m.-noon, Wednesday Open Studio from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Thursday instruction by Kathy Yoders from 1-4 p.m.

For more information about the Artful Blooms exhibit or the LGAA, visit lakegranburyart.blogspot.com online.