I recently visited two exhibitions in one morning with a friend. The thread between the two that I can’t stop thinking about is color.

Outwardly, the work was quite disparate — one being images of interlacing, richly-toned, sensually curving shapes with references to the natural world. And the other a geometric universe depicted in a series of subtle and layered collages, marrying crisp graphite lines within and above pale washes of color. The work was so very different, yet in each case the artist’s distinct color voice was the strong point that carried her/his show.

Study for Eternal Knot ©Valerie Hird, Watercolor

Valerie Hird’s paintings in her solo exhibition “We’re Not In Kansas Anymore” at Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery are refreshingly unique. I know very little about music and hope I’m not misspeaking to say her palette settles on me as though in a minor key — slightly unexpected, yet far from dissonant. Rather, her colors have a richness and a depth that I found absolutely striking. She achieves a transition of color within each frame that is both intriguing and irresistible. Her luxurious palette enhances the fairy tale-like feeling of many of her pieces. This impression is supported by her statement in which she says her work “explores cultural mythologies”. The gallery also notes that she “is particularly interested in how iconic images and forms – familiar to all – can be interpreted differently by viewers in different countries and cultures”.

Study for Yggdrasil ©Valerie Hird, Watercolor

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Sink ©Scott André Campbell, Mixed media on paper on panel, 22 x 32 inches

We followed Hird’s work with a visit to Soapbox Arts to see Scott André Campbell’s one-person exhibition, Distribution.
As with Hird’s paintings, it was Campbell’s virtuosity with color that set the work apart. Muted and ghost-like, Campbell’s pieces appear like futuristic cityscapes to me — crystalline palaces with occasional lines of alternately bright and restrained color that bring warmth and humanity to the work. As the galley sitter so rightly noted, these are pieces that one could relax in front of with a glass of wine, discovering new depths with each viewing, while also finding refuge from the crazy world outside. Scott states that “geometric abstraction is the architectural framework through which he decisively creates order from chaos”. And that is surely the case.

Walk ©Scott André Campbell, Mixed media on paper on panel, Diptych, 24 x 24 inches each

Valerie Hird: We’re Not In Kansas Anymore
September 6 – October 15
Furchgott Sourdiffe Gallery, Shelburne, VT

Scott André Campbell: Distribution
September 5 – November 2
Soapbox Arts, Burlington, VT