Visitors to the Studios at 307 East Annandale Road this past weekend enjoyed the annual autumn open house of art. We met both new and old friends during our visit.
Among the new was David Barr, a mixed-media artist whose screen paintings reflect various time periods and styles, including retro sci-fi art. His Falls Church connections run deep, including his murals in the Little City (including at the police station) as well as an acrylic and screen print on wood panel of the Art Deco marquee of the historic State Theatre.
An artist we did not meet but whose work we admired was Aminah Ahmad, who specializes in painting tall ships and storms at sea, one of which reminded us a bit of the Flying Dutchman legend. A calmer mood at sea is described in the exhibition card for this artist’s “Victory Alas:” “ The boat catches the last wind of the day, its sails opened beneath a sky slowly giving itself over to evening. … There is no grand arrival here. No shore, no crowd, no moment of triumph. Only the quiet movement of a boat continues onward. Perhaps that is the victory.”
We visited again with Meaghan DeCelle, whom we met last fall when she had just started renting a small studio at 307. While her style is modern, she often reaches back to the classics. She showed us two recent sketches (charcoal and conte on paper) she made of characters from Charlotte Brontë’s novel “Jane Eyre.” First there is Jane herself, gazing intently and dressed in period costume, and then there is the brooding Mr. Rochester, in all his complexity of character.
It would not be a visit to 307 without catching up with Dave Curtis, a constant presence at the Falls Church artist colony. A prolific artist, he paints 44 canvases per year. Mr. Curtis’ style of choice is Surrealism, and one oil canvas we found of interest was “Stairway to Oblivion,” in which we see an ancient pyramid along with a faded George Washington in the desert. The painting reminds us, according to the artist, that all great civilizations must eventually pass. Mr. Curtis, incidentally, has an intriguing solo show “Jungian Surrealism: The Art of Dave Curtis” in the Muse Gallery at the Workhouse Arts Center, the former prison in Lorton, running through November 1.
A more traditional canvas we saw in Stuart Allison Hindle’s “Washington in Spring,” though we did not have the opportunity to meet the artist in person. As we approach the colder temperatures of fall, this oil on panel looks back on the spring spirit of the Nation’s Capital, with the iconic Washington Monument surrounded by budding green trees and pink cherry blossoms. The visible brushstrokes lend the painting life and vibrance.
We recommend readers visit the 307 studios, whether during an open house or during a weekday, to meet local artists and enjoy the great diversity of their works.
