1 + 1 = 1 Gallery / Visual Poetry Opening

I had mentioned in an earlier post my desire to find out the name of the artist which Savvy and I had seen in November and whose work she really loved.  Lo and behold, last night we went to the opening of her current show.  Andrea Cross Guns (the artist) and Trudy Skari were showing and it fit nicely into a stroll down the street after work.  Savvy joined me for the opening.

photo by 1 + 1 = 1 Gallery

While the artwork displayed Andrea's bold use of colors and shapes, they were different from the ones we saw in November.  These pieces were a bit smaller, but all the pieces had some sort of collage element.  Included in this show's artwork is a small scroll with a poem and a fortune at the end of the poem.  The poem and fortune are also written by the talented Andrea.  As you can see, Savvy is intent on looking at each pictures.  I loved this piece because of the 'fungus' elements.  Very organic and reminded me of walking in the woods and seeing similar fungus on trees.

This was one of my favorites of Andrea Cross Guns.  And I believe this is the only one that had an actual figure in it.  The rest of her work is all very abstract.  I really like her work, which is odd, because I am definitely not drawn to abstracts normally.  I went to a Picasso exhibit one time in Raleigh and it left me completely cold.  Andrea's work is so bright and energizing, I really love it and am glad Savvy wants some of her work on our walls.

The other artist, Trudy Skari, displayed her sculptures.  This is a set of three raven heads.  I know my friend Marie would be sticking these in her bag to take home.  I particularly loved the fact she had all the odds and ends crows and ravens will pick up.

This is probably my favorite of Andrea's in the show.  I love the feeling of 'time' and time travel.

It took me a second to realize the body and head were separate.  Savvy was particularly appreciative of  it as Trudy had gotten the obi correct.  This piece was a bit different from a lot of her work in that it was more delicate in appearance and more detailed with the glazes.

But you can see how bright and full of energy the pieces are.  Frankly, any of them can hang on our walls.  The problem is deciding which one will be the first one.

Not the best angle for this picture, but this is Savvy's favorite.  It reminds me of a cityscape.

And oddly enough, this piece I fell in love with.  I had gone to the show strictly to see if there was anything which spoke to Savvy for a possible Christmas/birthday present.  And this little guy took my heart.  Maybe it is the title of the piece, "Immersed in Determining the Necessity of Leaving Some Things Unsaid".  If he is still available, I might be using some of my extra money from the Big Read volunteering to bring him home with me.  I think he and I need to talk some.

Besides feeling very cosmopolitan, after all I went to a 'gallery opening', the artwork was fantastic.  The owner/artist of the gallery, Maureen, is a sweetheart.  I have stopped on my lunch walk a couple of times and talked to her.  My problem with stopping in is I tend to stay longer than my lunch break! But I think a couple of pieces will be coming home with me/us in the next few weeks if I'm lucky.