By John Chambless
Staff Writer

The new exhibit at Square Pear Gallery in Kennett Square is as wide-reaching as ever, with an assortment of media and artists that you'll find nowhere else in the region.

Loosely organized under the theme “Home is where the art is,” the show has six vibrant watercolors by Jack Gianguilo of interiors that look like frames from some 1960s cartoon, but in a good way. They pop with sketchy energy.

There are two paintings by Brad Earl -- “Braducci,” an old-fashioned typewriter turned into a pop art icon, and “Emerson 130,” a vintage radio that's lovingly rendered.

Michael Buszko shows three colorful watercolor still lifes of fruit, and “Three Pears” is particularly strong, with a wonderful depiction of crumpled foil reflecting fragments of light and color. The skins of the cherries and apples are soft and shiny and just right in each work.

Gwenn Knapp has some fine still lifes as well, particularly her composition of stacked bowls. It's a symphony of pleasant blues and greens and browns. Doug Elliott has four lovely pastels showing Philadelphia area places. “Over the River” has a wonderful texture of spindly vines and trees on a riverbank, and “Biking Home” gets the dappled sunlight through trees on a suburban street just right.

Ken Kasanjian's square “Story Plates,” showing barns and homes and steeples, could be used as tableware, but also could be hung up as artwork. Around the gallery are Peter Saenger's adorable teapot sets, mugs and vases, with rounded surfaces and hollows. They snuggle up to each other like contented puppies, and the interlocking arms of the vases are simply charming.

Rhoda Kahler has some small tiles and more major stoneware artworks that are pleasing unions of textures, colors and imprinted images, both ancient and modern at the same time. “Vessels” is an epic grouping of 36 miniature pots, showcasing shapes throughout the eons.

Kim Hoechst has five oil paintings of house interiors and exteriors that depict varying lights. Particularly strong is “Sunlight and Lamplight,” a composition blending daylight through an open door and window, a glowing wall sconce, and reflected light on the wooden floor and white walls. There's also a warm, slanting sunlight through a window in her “Shelburne Cottage Bedroom.”

There are several whimsical fantasy homes in the gallery window by Lisa Muller. The surfaces have flowers and swirls and appliqued bits, with little animal faces peeking out here and there. They look like something from a children's book, as do her wall tiles, which depict stylized animal figures in fantasy settings. Why are some getting rained on? You are free to conjecture.

The gallery has ongoing shows of pottery by the late Mitch Lyons, as well as fascinating, tiny paintings by Kathryn Noscia that show animals in fantasy landscapes that seem to go on forever. You're bound to find a few things that you absolutely love.

Square Pear Gallery is at 200 E. State St., Kennett Square. Call 484-883-5429 for more information.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email [email protected].