Sometimes, the smallest things can have the biggest impact.
Sorrel Sky Gallery will be opening a new show Dec. 2 called “Little Windows with a Big View” Small Works Show. Two artists included in the show, Cynthia DeBolt and Sharon Abshagen, will both be showing oil paintings.
“It’s a way to express yourself and your vision of what you see, and try to call attention to something that others might not notice,” said DeBolt, who has shown with Sorrel Sky for about four or five years. “I (zero in) on a section of landscape that speaks to me because of either the composition or the color and (narrow down) to one section to call attention to something that others might not notice.”
For DeBolt, when she moved to Colorado, she noticed a change in her paintings.
“I lived for a long time in the Midwest and in Michigan, and so at that time, I painted a lot of whites and umbers and grays because the sun wasn’t out as much there and winter was longer,” she said. “And since I’ve moved to Colorado, I think the colors in my work have gotten brighter because of the bright blue sky ... there’s just more color here, I think.”
Abshagen, who has shown her work with Sorrel Sky for the better part of a decade, will have two miniatures in the show.
“It’s extremely fun,” she said. “What I do as an artist – and I know a lot of other artists do this, too – is we spend time painting small things in order to solve some of the problems in painting a large painting. But then sometimes, they’re so special as miniatures that we don’t go on to paint the big painting. It’s a fun process.”
Abshagen said that working in a smaller – or larger – scale isn’t always so easy.
“It can be a challenge with the composition, going either direction – going from large to small or small to large. Sometimes when things are small, they don’t look very good large and vice versa,” she said. “They have their own special personality.”
katie@durangoherald.com
If you go
What:
“Little Windows with a Big View” Small Works Show opening reception.
When:
5-9 p.m. Dec. 2.
Where:
Sorrel Sky Gallery, 828 Main Ave. (Also at its Santa Fe gallery, 125 W. Palace Ave.)
More information:
Visit www.sorrelsky.com.
