Author: Janice Kerber
The current exhibition in The Gallery at Briarwood, “Botanical Muse,” features the artwork of Gloria J. Goguen, and the exhibition is a plant lover’s playground. Gloria, a visual artist who favors the genre of botanical art, combines scientific accuracy with her own artistic expression. Her subjects are local plants, and resident gardeners and naturalists will delight in seeing “familiar friends” adorning the gallery’s walls.
Gloria primarily uses colored pencils to create her works, but you will also see other media like pen and ink, watercolor, acrylic, and pastels. As you travel through the exhibition, you will discover amazing works that look like photographs due to her keen attention to detail and expert technique.
Pay attention to a series of works mounted in golden frames. These pieces depict plants on a plain light background, one of the characteristics of the botanical genre to keep the focus on the plant itself. These pieces have an interesting history, as well. Created to be exhibited in Hanover Theater’s Art Gallery in 2020, the works were hung but never seen by the public. Gloria was asked to take down her creations when COVID caused the closing of the gallery. Enjoy being the first to see the collection on display in a public setting.
A highlight of the exhibit is Gloria’s “Beauty of Aging.” This work reflects another aspect of the botanical genre, the representation of the life cycle of a plant, in this case, the amaryllis. This work is particularly meaningful to the artist who has added personal touches to the piece. Look for the death head moth, named for the skull-like feature on its back, a symbol hovering over the dead amaryllis. A perceptive observer will recognize the phases of the moon in the piece and the four seasons represented in the corners. The Gloria J. Goguen exhibition, “Botanical Muse,” is truly a nature-lover’s delight!