Review

"Drink Coke," Watercolor on Paper.

Joy Mead

6-9 p.m.
(Opening Reception)

Images Art Gallery
7320 W. 80th St.
Overland Park, KS
913.232.7113

Hours after opening reception: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Runs through: April 10.

Artist's site: http://www.joymead.com
Gallery site: http://www.imagesartgallery.org

With yesterday being St. Patrick's Day (complete with all the attendant craziness), you might be looking to stay in tonight, relax and avoid even a glimpse of anything green.

If you do, though, you'll miss a chance to go out and relax. And yes, verdant colors will be a big part of that decompression.

Joy Mead, one of two artists featured in tonight's Third Thursday reception at Images Art Gallery, paints watercolors that are soothing by design: bright and warm, beautifully composed and tranquil in subject and mood.

Drink Coke, today's featured image, is a prime example. The lettering on the crate might conjure thoughts of stimulation, and the red-and-white of the impatiens echoes Coca-Cola's color scheme, but the overall effect is  of a warm glow rather than a caffeinated buzz.

Florals abound in Mead's work, along with water scenes (especially of the Florida Keys).

Most of my work is devoted to paintings of things I find beautiful and peaceful, writes Mead, who is featured along with Loreta Feeback through mid-April at the co-op gallery in downtown Overland Park. I love to paint flowers, gardens and porches with swings, women and still life. I do not try to excite with my art, but rather give the viewer a feeling of peace and serenity. I hope that they will also be able to imagine themselves on the porch or in the garden in the painting, as I do while I am creating it. I work almost exclusively in watercolors because I love the medium for its lovely clear colors and bright transparent appearance.

So go ahead, get back out of the house tonight. Whether your eyes are bright, bleary — or even jaundiced — they'll find something lovely and soothing in Mead's work.

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