Hurricane Matthew an Unwelcome Guest at Butterfield Garage Art Gallery

Matanzas River Nocturne
Karen F. Rose
oil on canvas
6 x 6"
available

Hurricane Matthew, a category 3 hurricane came in with a destructive storm surge on October 7th to the east coast of Florida and specifically to St. Augustine, FL the nation's oldest city. 

Butterfield Garage Art Gallery at 137 King St was flooded and all the pedestals with art on them were overturned in a river of water that swept through the gallery. Chairs, furniture, paintings and prints were destroyed in a cocktail of unhealthy water.  
The gallery has to be gutted and new drywall and electrical put in place. The gallery is temporarily closed as this could be a two month long process.

Butterfield Garage Art Gallery is one of the oldest galleries in St Augustine and is home to 30 artists. A Go Fund Me site is in the works to help get the gallery rebuilt. I'll post that link when it is created. 

This little painting Matanzas River Nocturne is one of the paintings that would have been on display in our exhibit Painterly Impressions that was to open that night. Of course the featured exhibit never happened as we all evacuated inland during the storm.

This week there was a super moon which shown brightly, so similar to the moon in the Matanzas River Nocturne. It was such a serene vision after the chaos of the preceding week.
To all who have been affected by this storm I'm wishing you peace, calm and strength to rebuild.
A special thank you to artist Ron Vellucci who was the first to enter the building after the storm and witness the damage. He risked his own personal safety and rescued my paintings and I am so grateful. Thank you to ALL the "helpers" who remain positive and filled with creative energy...stay strong.  

Painterly Impressions Opens October 7, 2016 at Butterfield Garage Art Gallery in St Augustine

Whispered Twilight
Karen F. Rose
oil on cradled birch panel
30 x 30 " 

You're invited to Painterly Impressions a group art exhibit at Butterfield Garage Art Gallery, 137 King Street, St Augustine on exhibit October 7 to November 1, 2016.

Our opening reception is on October 7, 2016 from 5 to 9pm. There is free parking in front and behind the gallery. 

Jessie Cook, Rebecca Shaffer and I are historic coast painters with three distinctively different painting styles, Here's a little more about each of us from our press release for the show.

“Prairie Moon”, 6 x 6, pastel on paper by Karen F. Rose

Karen F. Rose paints a poetic vision in oil and pastel, inspired by the soft washed memory and spirituality of dawn, dusk and twilight hours. Influenced by the tonalist painters of the late 19th century, Inness and Whistler, her evocative tonal paintings are more about atmosphere and diffused light than a representation of place. Viewers often comment on the peace and serenity they feel in viewing her paintings. Karen is a member of the Oil Painters of America and was an award recipient in the juried OPA “City by the Sea” plein air event in St. Augustine. Her serene oils and pastels are in collections across the country. website www.karenfrose.com

“Nasturtiums”, 12 x 16, oil on canvas by Jessie Cook

Jessie Cook is a landscape and still life artist who paints in an impressionist manner. “Whether working on landscape or still life, my paintings are inspired by direct observation, capturing color and value and mood of the subject before I simply let the painting itself take over. My paintings are a way to be still and to look. Both for myself and, I hope, for the viewer.” Jessie works primarily in oil and has studied with Sherry Camhy and Ric del Rossi of the Art Students League, Mary Anna Goetz of the Woodstock School of Art, and John Phillip Osborn of the Ridgewood Art Institute.  She is an award-winning artist whose work has been juried into shows in St. Augustine, Jacksonville, and Orlando, Florida, as well as in New York. website www.jessiefineart.com

“Kayak View”, 16 x 20, oil on canvas by Rebecca Shaffer

Rebecca Shaffer is a Contemporary Impressionist who paints in oil. Her paintings have been described as lyrical and often feature a body of water reflecting light and prismatic color. “Water for me is so beautiful, the way light affects it changing it from calm to stormy and anywhere in between. It is also a metaphor for the individual experience and inner realms we all embody.” Rebecca studied Fine Art at San Diego State University and has exhibited in galleries and hotels in California, Hawaii and Florida. She is a member of St. Augustine Art Association and ACA/Atlantic Center for the Arts. website www.rebeccashaffer.com We look forward to sharing a fun filled evening with you.