‘Dragonfly Between’ by Linda Storm. Courtesy/SUG

‘The Code to the Hill’ by Sandra Duran Wilson. Courtesy/SUG

STEP UP GALLERY News:

Wednesday, Sept. 18, is the last day of the Step Up Gallery’s latest exhibit featuring paintings by Linda Storm and paintings and sculpture by Sandra Duran Wilson. The bright and exciting exhibit of more than 100 pieces of art brought many local and regional visitors to the gallery over the last month.

Storm and Duran Wilson met professionally years ago in Santa Fe. Their creative conversations encompassed wide-ranging topics, from reality to the depths of imagination and wonder. Their conversations and explorations led to this exhibit, “Beyond the Threshold: Nature, Myths, Dreams.” The works include beautiful abstracts, stylized landscapes and “spacescapes,” metaphorical figures, and allegorical topics.

Duran Wilson’s piece “The Code to the Hill” is an example of her rich and multilayered stylized landscapes. It shows sky, hills and earth, as it also hints at meaning beneath the earth. The acrylic sculpture “The Place Between” alludes to a glimpse of the birth of a new galaxy.

Storm’s painting, “RavenStorm”, shows, at first glance, a raven grasping a bolt of lightning. As you look more deeply into the painting you see that the raven is full of stars, and in the background the sun sets on a Southwest desert landscape. Her large painting “Dragonfly Between” spotlights a dragonfly, but the “between” also creates interest, with trees reaching out to one another.

During the Aug. 17 opening reception, both artists gave a short talk about their work. The videos of those talks can be viewed on Step Up Gallery’s YouTube channel. Storm: https://youtu.be/HKhqABZtruA and Duran Wilson: https://youtu.be/4GFCXmlT6Pg.

Step Up Gallery, on the top level of Mesa Public Library, is open the same hours as the library: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday – Thursday; 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1-5 p.m. Sunday.  Admission is free. For more information about the gallery, visit https://stepupgallery.org.

‘RavenStorm’ by Linda Storm. Courtesy/SUG

‘The Place Between’ by by Sandra Duran Wilson. Courtesy/SUG