The sun was setting in a rich, crisp, autumn bronze over the front door of the Washington Street Gallery, as its new show Rhythms in Color began its opening reception, October 18. This show is all about color, appropriate for the time of year when trees do the same. This latest offering from Elizabeth Schwartz is busting with colors.
“It’s interesting because her art keeps changing. These paintings are quite different from some of her previous things, so it’s fun to see them,” Beth Spencer, a friend of Schwartz, said. Spencer added that while Schwartz’s earlier was more lifelike, and got more abstract over time, “but clearly nature scenes” have always been a big influence.
Schwartz is an abstract artist averaging eight completed canvases a year, who has shown her work as far afield as Florence and and as close as the WSG. The size-able canvases she has up in the front of the 111 East Ann Street gallery stand out for their bold and vivid works of life.
Some art is subdued by nature but that isn’t Schwartz. Her paintings are wide awake.
“This is very different than my work done in the past. This is part computer and part paint,” Schwartz said while beaming at the front of the gallery, her hard work displayed all around her.
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The WSG has been a part of Treetown’s art scene for a quarter of a century now. Their gallery is across the street from the courthouse and has space on the primary floor and in the basement.
“Her work is different. It’s deep, it’s intense,” Nora Venturelli, a member of the WSG said. “Her work morphs, and it’s always interesting to see the new stage that she’s in. That’s what makes me want to see what she’s up to.”
The show officially started on October 9. Schwartz will have her art on display through November 16.
“I thought it was fantastic,” Jennifer Rosewarne, a friend of the family of the artist, said upon leaving. “I think Betty never seizes to reinvent herself and it’s always interesting and a surprise to see what she is working on.”
As with all art shows, you can swing by and view the art for free while the show is in session. The price to take one of the canvases home with you averages $950 a painting.
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!
