GREENSBORO – B.J. Gray is having an exhibition of her art at the Greensboro Free Library this month, entitled “A Mixed Bag.” She has long been known for her beautiful “over the door boards” that visually enhance many homes. As she writes about some of the new directions in her art, they “explore a playful and thoughtful collection of animal-themed artwork” in different mediums such as woodburning, watercolor and painting, all “inspired by the natural world and rooted in Vermont life.”
The door boards have one flat bottom edge to sit on top of a door molding and a curved edge above. There are nine examples in this show, featuring symmetrical pairs of loons (one with their babies characteristically riding on their backs), speckle breasted birds, bats, butterflies, crows, hedgehogs and bluebirds. Flowers, berries and landscapes are carefully integrated into the compositions, which are well proportioned and harmoniously colored.
Paintings of animals on thin boards are most numerous. Quite effective are two pieces cut from the outer edge of trees, depicting snowy and barn owls, very finely painted. A barred owl with two chicks on a vertical board has the illusion of a receding cavity behind them, nicely rendered. Others in this format show a loon, opossum, chickadee, otter, bald eagle, hermit thrush, mouse, fisher cat, seagull, pig, reindeer, cardinal and wolverine. Some whimsical piece have a pig with a pie and two chipmunk holding an American flag on its back, a Covid-19 masked squirrel heating some liquid in a flash over a lit candle, a mouse playing a guitar and a rooster with a soccer ball, each of which makes one smile. All of these are convincingly painted with coherent layouts.
The woodburning works are skillfully crafted, with excellent linear detail. On squares and rectangles of thin wood are drawn a fox, a mallard duck, a red squirrel, a bee and a howling coyote. A rat with a slice of pie is quite humorous. Unique are the woodburning pieces on nine boxes of various sizes. One has a beaver, turtle, porcupine, fox and quail on the visible sides. Another, a squirrel with mushrooms and nuts. Larger animals such as a moose, bear and coyote decorate a small box with a sliding cover, while two bigger boxes with open holes for handling at each end show a chicken, lamb, calf, duck, goose, pig and hawk. Several boxes have landscapes with barns, a windmill and hand pump with a watering trough, a lighthouse, a fence and trees. One combines a sailboat with fish, a crab, turtle, gold finch and blackeyed susan flowers in a more nautical theme. A watercolor of nastursiums conveys their joyous colors.
This exhibition will run through April, hopefully extended into May. A number of pieces have already been sold, and a percentage of the proceeds will go to the library. For more information, go online to [email protected] or contact the library at (802) 533-2531 or greensborofreelibrary.org.
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
Thank you for the wonderful review of Delia Robison’s show David. She certainly is amazing both her work and her self. I agree with everything you say. Inventive, the best kind of truth and politics with a kind sense of humor. She embraces old, white haired people doing the same kind of nonsense they, we, did in our 20’s.