Pink and Peach exhibition at the Francine Kelly Gallery in Featherstone

You can brave the looming darkness of winter by entering the Francine Kelly Gallery, bursting with every shade of pink and peach. As the title suggests, you’re sure to enjoy the Tickled Pink and Peach exhibit at the Featherstone Center for the Arts through November 3rd.

The theme comes from October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, also known as Pink October, and Pantone’s 2024 Color of the Year is Peach Fuzz. Pantone is a company that provides a universal color language for many industries, including fashion, graphic design, product design… and art.

Leatrice Eiseman, CEO of Pantone Color, says: “Peach Fuzz… is a velvety, gentle peach shade whose all-encompassing spirit enriches the mind, body and soul. In search of a color that reflects our innate longing for closeness and connection, we chose a color that radiates warmth and modern elegance.”

“It was fun to see what people came up with,” says Ann Smith, managing director of Featherstone, of the entries from 64 artists.

As with all gallery community exhibitions, the variety of themes, media and styles is impressive.

As soon as you enter, you’ll find Wendy Rinderberg’s large “Peach Rose” quilt. She creates the extreme close-ups of two flowers from seemingly hundreds of monochromatic blocks of fabric. Nienberg contrasts its austere geometry by covering the entire piece with delicately embroidered flourishes that add delicacy to the vibrant composition.

Michaele Christian’s powerful brushstrokes in her oil monotype “Vanishing September” capture the disappearing signs of summer. While various shades of pink dominate the central floral image in this print, a darker orange peach peeks out from the even more abstract waterscape “Dream On,” which is dominated by nuanced blues and grassy greens.

Deborah Black’s stunning ‘Floral Escapade’ and ‘Garden of Delights’ are rich in gorgeous pink and peach tones. She creates the works from her own handmade paper, creating a subtle layering that appears to contain an abundance of botanicals pressed flat as a reminder of special times.

Rose Gates’ mixed media “Peonies” is equally abstract. She overlays square and rectangular close-ups of the lush, pink flowers over a sensual peach and green acrylic background. Gates removes portions of the images to reveal the underlying colors and create an almost ancient sensibility.

The natural light streaming through Amy Custis’s two stained glass panels, “Tulip” and “Hydrangea,” hanging from the windows next to the gallery doors, illuminates the colors curved by the black lead lines.

Using pointillist strokes, Linda Wurm Bryant’s diverse shades of pink and purple in her acrylic painting “Winter Path to Medeiros Cove” extend to the sunlit path winding through the forest. Bryant defines the water and sky in the background with splashes of color that provide definition and immediacy through a dotted, tree-filled foreground.

John Holladay’s dazzling acrylic painting Fall in Tashmoo conveys the energy of the season with colors of almost neon intensity. The resulting scene sings and vibrates on the screen.

Teresa Kruszewski imbues her slightly blurry black and white photo “Flower Tin” with a flawlessly clear single pink flower. Tilted to the right, it directs the eye to the upper corner of the picture frame and gives the still life dynamism.

Bob Avakian surprises us with his photo “Pink House on a Beach”. While the subject – a unique building with a vast sky surrounding it – is similar to his black and white nighttime scenes, it is bathed in pink, creating a sense of stillness that is enhanced by the mirror-like stillness of the water.

Some artists worked on the theme in three dimensions. Jessica Kramer designed two beautiful limited edition ceramic sets especially for the exhibition, including “Peachy Pink Bubble Bowls,” formed from vintage glass bubble bowls. Their diverse glazes and alluring textures make us want to run our hands over their surfaces.

Frank Creney used only the organic materials seaweed and salt to create the subtle pink and peach tones interspersed with black accents in his elegant vase and globe.

Large and small creatures also appear in the exhibition. In Jennifer Burkin’s mixed-media “Fair Friends,” two pink pigs full of personality stare right at us, surrounded by a patterned decorative border.

Allison Roberts’ adorable little acrylic painting “Pinktastic,” featuring an imaginary fluffy friend with wispy feathers, is just the thing to make you smile… to “tickle you pink.” With his head turned slightly, the little guy’s big, soulful eyes invite us to take a closer look.

The exhibition invites us to see how our island’s artists took a fun theme and implemented it.

“It’s a beautiful show,” Smith says. “It’s really bright for fall, which I think is wonderful.”

“Tickled Pink and Peach” is on view daily at the Featherstone Center for the Arts through November 3rd, with an artist reception on Sunday, October 20th from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.