The Center House classroom and Leonhardt Galleries
An artist's presentation followed by an informal gallery tour.
We warmly welcome Nancy Lorenz back to the Leonhardt Galleries for an informative presentation followed by an informal tour of her current exhibition, Shimmering Flowers. Included will be a screening of the new documentary film created by Gael Towey for “Portraits in Creativity,” a project featuring beautiful and evocative short films that document artists and their inspirations.
A New York City based artist, Nancy Lorenz incorporates techniques from traditional Asian crafts, drawing on her years spent living in Japan and a thirty-five-year career as a noted contemporary abstract painter. For Shimmering Flowers, Ms. Lorenz has created gilt and mother-of-pearl paintings that complement the Garden’s collection of flora and will also present table-top landscape vessels in cast bronze, creating a dialogue with the galleries and their surrounding gardens. Throughout the summer, these vessels will display arrangements created by a rotating group of talented floral designers whose interpretations of the art are reflected in unique displays of flowers and other natural materials.
Traditional water gilding is a labor-intensive process requiring many steps to achieve the desired effect. Multiple coats of gesso and bole are painted onto a poured surface and meticulously refined, followed by the application of a gossamer-thin sheet of gold laid with a gilder’s tip once water is applied to the surface. Finally, the gold is hand-burnished with an agate tool that gives it a molten liquid appearance.
Shimmering Flowers will be on display through September 30th and is made possible through the generous assistance of the Dorothea L Leonhardt Foundation, Inc.