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Chester County Press

‘Inspired by Nature’ on view in Kennett Square

10/08/2019 12:26PM ● By J. Chambless

Barbara Grant’s autumn landscapes fill the front gallery.

By John Chambless
Staff Writer

The current show at the Square Pear Fine Art Gallery in Kennett Square looks at the landscape and nature in several mediums, beginning with the appropriately russet and gold autumn paintings by Barbara Grant. Her “Around the Bend,” a richly textured view of a white roadway curving through trees, has a splendid depth and lovely shadows. Grant’s “40 Acres” has warm-toned leaves interlocking over dark trunks in a woodland.

Katy Winters shows etchings of birds. Her “Great Egret” is a very nice composition, and her watercolor, “Chickadees and Milkweed,” is an intriguing web of stalks and scraggly textures.

There’s a selection of small abstract, landscape-like prints by David Eldreth, and Diana Cannon is well represented by several watercolors done on tissue paper that is then mounted on thicker stock, giving her paintings of shorebirds a striking texture, like rippled water beneath the birds. It’s a very effective medium, and Cannon’s birds are gracefully depicted.

Lidia Kohutiak shows autumn-colored oils of rocks and woodlands, and her “The Brook” has a beautiful reflection of fall leaves in the still water. Denise Vitollo’s three views of the underwater lives of fish give you an unusual perspective.

There’s a large gallery of formal animal portraits by Sandra Severson that display her skill with capturing the nobility and dignity of roosters and a fox, for instance. Her views of horses are both tender and strong, showing the interaction of the animals as well as their strength.

Since autumn colors have not quite appeared outside yet, “Inspired by Nature” is a great preview of the season that’s soon to arrive. Stop in for a sneak peek.

The Square Pear Fine Art Gallery is at 200 State St., Kennett Square. Hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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