Gallery One is pleased to announce the April theme, "Tulip Time" open to the public April 3 - April 30. The weather may still be chilly but the appearance of tulips as one of the first signs of spring offers us encouragement that warmer days are coming. This month’s theme, "Tulip Time" celebrates the coming of spring by paying tribute to the tulip.
Tulips have different symbolism in different cultures. In the Middle East, they are considered a symbol of paradise. In the Netherlands, they are thought to represent the brief, but vibrant nature of life. Gallery One is bursting with that vibrancy this month!
Lesley McCaskill’s acrylic painting, "Spring Blossoms," with its bright colors and forms popping from the canvas like the buds bursting from the ground, captures the essence of spring. The painting depicts a scene from her own garden and offers us the color and warmth we’ve been missing.
"Spring is Here!," a pastel painting by artist Laura Hickman makes us feel as though we are in the backyard spring garden of our winter dreams! In Bethany Beach, spring greets us with a most spectacular display of tulips. They are a sight to see, and always bring a collective sigh of relief that winter is gone and spring is here!
In "Dutch Treat," an acrylic painting by Joyce Condry, the warm range colors of the tulips are set off by the cool blues in the painting’s background, perfectly reflecting the emerging warmth of spring from the cool of winter. The Netherlands gave us a treat when they sent over the first tulip bulbs. If the Dutch could only find away to make them bloom longer than two weeks, it would be wonderful. But this brevity makes their appearance all the more special.
Artist Mary Bode Byrd’s mixed media painting, "Blazing Blooms," depicts dark pink tulip blooms speaking of the romantic nights and sunny days of spring. The painting has both a delicacy of the ephemeral nature of spring and a bold use of color that celebrates the flower’s triumphant emergence.
"River of Flowers," Dale Sheldon’s acrylic painting leads the viewer through a river of blue flowers past red and yellow tulips planted along the bank with white ones dominating the foreground. The bright colors of the flowers contrast against the green of early spring and the neutrals of the surrounding landscape.
"Tip Toe Through the Tulips," is the title of artist Pat Riordan’s whimsical watercolor painting. Her tulips dance across the canvas almost as if in anticipation of the spring whose arrival they herald!
Eileen Olson pays dynamic tribute to the tulip in her acrylic painting, "Homage to Tulips". Eileen hones the amazingly beautiful tulips that fill our little town of Bethany Beach each and every year. It is a joyous time of year to watch the bulbs burst through the mulch into a plethora of colors. Joyous indeed!
