501 N Market St / Frederick MD

In September TAG/The Artists Gallery will feature two solo exhibitions.  

JOANA MORRISON will show “Influences,” which she describes as “a departure from my usual sculpture and painting style. "

“After a 2015 life painting class, I began to explore my interests in painting figures and portraits,” she says.  “Others have compared me to Diego Rivera.  I have also painted figures in the style of Chagall and Modigliani, and admired the vitality of Impressionist figures.

“Since most artists’ models are female, I find it interesting how we have been presented, and so I mimicked some of these styles.”  
Pieces she will show include a woman on a pedestal of “virtue,” adorned in the finery of class and status; a woman posed nude in nature— “plein air”; a woman on a couch, draped seductively; and a woman depicted in the style of fashion photos: cool, flawless, glamorous.

Morrison has also painted people she admires or  who have been influences in her life, including teachers Pema Chodron and other Buddhists, poets Maya Angelou and Mary Oliver, and political figures Michelle Obama and Elizabeth Warren.

She acknowledges another major influence in her life.  “In the painting ‘Bow,’ I pay homage to the beauty of this world and the influences that have blessed me as an artist and a person,” she says.

CHRISTINE STOVALL's show is called “Journeys.” “My husband Mike and I are both teachers,” she explains.  “We are not rich in wealth, but our time off from work each summer gives us time to travel, making us richer in life experiences. The paintings and clay pieces in this show are from journeys starting in the summer of 2012 through the summer of 2016.”

This year Stovall and her husband traveled up the East coast to New England and out to Prince Edward Island, Canada. “Our longest trip took place in 2014 to South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland,” she says.  “In 2015 we drove the circuit of the American Southwest.  But January of 2016 provided a very different kind of journey, with Mike in the neurological intensive care unit at Johns Hopkins Hospital for over three weeks following a stroke.” 

The painting “Almost Lost, Colorado” symbolizes having almost lost her husband.

Her husband has recovered, Stovall says, “but humbled by the life changing experience of this past winter, my most recent work reflects an appreciation for all life’s journeys and a renewed thankfulness for the simple things in life— a French bulldog with one black eye, an aging, road-weary 2013 Jeep Liberty, and shared lives together.” 

These exhibitions and a show of work by the other members of the gallery will run from September 2 through 25, with a reception from 5 to 9pm during First Saturday on Sept. 3.  TAG, at 216 North Market Street, Frederick, is open Fri.-Sat. noon to 9pm, and Sun. noon to 5pm.  More at theartistsgalleryfrederick.com.