Exhibitions

Gallery One is pleased to announce the March show, “Complimentary Complements.”

Everybody loves compliments. Or is it a complement they love? One definition of complementary is “Good Together.” This month at Gallery One the artists are featuring works that work good together. In art the color wheel often acts as a starting point when planning a painting. The color wheel is the basis of color theory because it shows the relationship between colors: primary, secondary, and tertiary. If you find your primary color on the color wheel, then locate the color sitting opposite, this will be your complement, for example blue with orange, or yellow with purple. When placed close together, complementary colors will always accentuate each other, creating bold contrasts. A perfect example of this is Jeanne Mueller’s pastel, “Jacks.” I picked it because I love all the wonderful colors of the jacks and the red ball that would be used to pick them up.  The colors all seem to complement each other making them a happy, fun sight for the eyes. Similarly, Lesley McCaskill’s, “Snow Geese Grazing,” utilizes a complementary palette of soft-focus corals and blues allowing the white geese to “pop.” “I could actually see these colors, but I exaggerated the spectrum for emphasis (red orange complemented to turquoise) adding some cool blue/purple trees,” Lesley explains.

Nature is the great “Artist,” and in her we find complements in abundance. In artist Rina Thaler’s acrylic painting, “Complimentary Sunset,” we see that the sky above is full of movement and bands of orange and gray-blue, and the water below reflects the images above the horizon but contains many more hues beneath the surface. Cindy Beyer’s pastel painting, “Beak to Beak,” is a delight in reds and greens. “I had a lot of fun playing with complementary colors in this painting. I pushed the female cardinal to be a bit more on the greenish side, thus a complement to the bright red male.  The “kissing birds” are surrounded by trees which if you look closely form a heart shape around them.  The male is courting the female by feeding her seeds, which is a “compliment”” to her.”

Dale Sheldon’s acrylic painting, “A Taste of Spring,” shares the red/green palette with delicious energy, illustrating how chefs use color to bring more pleasure to a meal by emphasizing “eye appeal” utilizing the color wheel. A scoop of burrata complements the fresh flavor, while the red edible nasturtiums complement the green asparagus creating a visual treat. In artist Jill Glassman’s, “With my Compliments,” in oil, we again see a predominate palette of reds and greens courtesy of mother nature. “When paired with neutral colors, I love how complementary colors bring out the best of each other, quite the “compliment!” “Dubrovnik,” a pastel painting by artist Laura Hickman expertly juxtaposes both the red/green, and the blue/orange complements. The visuals of bright complementary colors enable the hues to “pop” and help create the illusion of a very bright, late afternoon.

If you are still in need of a way to visualize the difference between a complement and a compliment, here’s a hint: a complement is related to completion, while a compliment relates to flattering words or acts. We hope you’ll compliment us with a visit this month!