Upcoming Shows and Events
“Walking to School”
Upcoming show by Juliana Crownover
The Gallery is open Monday-Friday 9:00 to Noon and Sundays from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm and may be opened by appointment by calling the church office: 214.823.8134 or Evelyn Luciani: 972.333.6675
I use my art as a way to notice something beautiful everyday. “Walking to School” has been a whimsical, fun series chronicling my second grade daughter’s daily walks to school. My 3 older children all start school an hour before my youngest. We like to eat breakfast as a family, so that leaves Lydia and I an extra hour every morning. What I am trying to do is not waste our gift of time; the phrase “killing time” is a phrase that makes me so sad. Instead of “killing” that time, I have painted it and all the adventures and beauty that we found in those extra hours.
This series is about half landscapes of what we have seen on our daily walks and half mixed media pieces of people walking. It includes: homework, tardy slips, and bit and pieces we collected along the way. In addition to many kinds of media, I have used a bit of magical realism in these paintings.
For example, in “Spokes and Shadows” the light was beautiful, the shadows were beautiful, but the backdrop was generic new suburbia. In my mind, I saw a fantastic tree lined drive, with a young girl pumping up a hill onto great things. In the painting, I created the leaves with bits of homework. As the leaves fell, I could imagine the days and years, and the entirety of Lydia’s childhood landing on the drive as she confidently rode into the future.
These paintings are about being present: we put away the phone, compose a rhyme or poem, talk about the day, share our hopes and dreams, plan dinner or our next family celebration. We notice what is in bloom, when the leaves change color, or when someone repainted their front door. We have noted that all those carpoolers don’t have a chance to: meet a new neighbor, pet a kitten, do a cartwheel, twirl a tutu, pick a flower, or sneak a fresh fig hanging over the fence.
In painting this series, my hope is you will be reminded of a sweet memory of when you walked with your friends, siblings, or parent to school. Or you will be reminded of when your child walked to school. Perhaps you will be inspired to be present and get out and find the beauty and life that is in YOUR neighborhood waiting for you to just enjoy and discover! Perhaps you can grab your dog, or kid, or mom, or neighbor and embark in a simple way to really live your life…go for a walk.”