Rebecca C. Gray: Flower Paintings and Portraits
On View November 2, 2026 - February 6, 2027
Special Painting Demonstration
Thursday, December 3, 3:30pm-4:30pm
Artist Reception & Talk
Saturday, February 6, 1:00 PM
Gallery Hours:
M-Th 4:30 - 7:30 PM
F/S 1:00 - 4:00 PM
*Closed during university breaks and holidays
Exhibition Statement and Bio:
Flower Paintings and Portraits is a celebration of personality: both in nature and in the people whom I have had the joy to observe from my easel. This exhibition is also a record of the personal introspection I experience while drawing and painting.
In my work, I investigate nature seeking magnificent moments in the world of the mundane. Curiosity and sensitivity are my guides, and they lead me to slow down, look closely, and experience worlds of color and form to be found everywhere. I work from life with the dual goals of refined form and accurate likeness. Each flower, like each person, has a dignity of its own; my role is to let it shine through.
The flowers I choose to paint must have a personality and character. I source my flowers locally, and have a small garden of old world roses that have been kind enough to hold still for me as well as some peonies, poppies, clematis, salvia and narcissus.
In portraits, I seek beautiful contradictions: strong, yet subtle; individual and unique, yet united in our humanity. I thrive on finding just the right contour, just the right light and shadow to tell the stories written on every face.
The works included in this exhibition are in various levels of completion, including sketches for larger works in progress. Some of the small oil portrait studies will be developed into life-size works, while some sketches are an end in themselves, a record of deep observation. In this way, I counterpose refined form and likeness against the openness and vulnerability of process. Exposed ground, pentimenti and translucent layers all express the wonder and joy of discovery I experience with each new subject, each new sketch, and each new canvas.
I was raised in Michigan and I have lived in the Pacific Northwest and New York City. Everywhere I have lived has amplified and enriched my belief that as human beings, we are all one family. Our attraction to beauty in nature and individuality in one another bind us together. While the faces and features of my subjects are diverse, in a deeper sense they are all part of the grand story of nature. These works are a few pages in that great book.
