A Bowl of Grapes, and Other Imagery by Valerie Berner
Lumiere Photo
100 College Ave.
Sep 1, 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

Valerie writes;

When viewers tell me that they like “the painting with the moon,” they know which one they mean, but I don’t – as that could be any number of my compositions. But if they were to say that they liked “the one with the grapes,” I’d know exactly which piece they meant. For that reason, I decided to title this exhibition in honor of an atypical painting – the one with the grapes.

I wouldn’t necessarily call it a departure, the one with the grapes. It would be more apt to call it a side trip. Variations can be useful, as well as fun and refreshing. They can also be a challenge to embrace. While my style has only become more consistent over the past 20+ years, my subject matter has at times needed to be refreshed. Sometimes we need to paint grapes before going back to painting the moon.

In this exhibition, I have included a mix of my more usual imagery (water, arches, portals, and inevitably the moon) and less-usual imagery (a streetlight, a serpent, an hourglass, the grapes…). As with any of my shows, my hope is for the scenery to lead viewers to wonder and wander.