Blue Moon Gallery to present new exhibition

GRAYSLAKE – Blue Moon Gallery is presenting a unique, fun and exciting new exhibition called Local Papers featuring interesting works of art made on or with paper.

All of the art in Local Papers is created by three regional professional artists: Phil Schorn and Melissa Rasor of Grayslake and Angela Williams Duea of Chicago.

The exhibition opens Saturday, May 25, with a reception hosted at the gallery. The reception from 6 to 9 p.m. is free and open to the public.

Schorn is an award-winning color pencil artist and instructor living and working in Grayslake who will be showing 12 color pencil works. Schorn’s color pencil art is loaded with exquisite detail creating a sense of allure, wonder and curiosity not just about his impressive technique, but also about his transcendent ability to demonstrate the connection between art, life and the beauty of nature, according to the news release from the gallery.

Schorn graduated from Eastern Illinois University with a double major in graphic design and 2D fine art. His art has been featured in Color Pencil magazine, Color magazine, Kane County magazine, Sunshine Artist magazine, the Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald and Pioneer Press newspapers, Fox Chicago News and the Color Pencil Hidden Treasures Book.

Duea is a photographer and mixed media artist. As a child, she learned pastel and oil painting from her grandfather and photography from her uncle who was a professional photographer. Over the years she has explored photography, encaustic, collage, fiber arts and watercolor. Today she spends most of her time taking photos around Chicago or working in her studio with vintage papers and found objects.

Duea is presenting a series of eight mixed media collages that feature vintage papers including pages from antique books, plus labels, ledgers, photos and documents from early machinery.

Rasor returns to the Blue Moon Gallery with a new collection of seven colorful and sensorial paper-based works inspired by her recent travels. She uses recycled magazines to create her artwork.

Rasor has been “rolling” strips of colorful paper from discarded magazines since 2011 to bring her creative vision to fruition. The colors come from the colors of the pages from the magazines. Rasor uses her own sketches and photos to create the foundation of her compositions.

The gallery is located at 18620 Belvidere Road in Grayslake and is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Local Papers is on view through July 14.

Blue Moon Gallery also is hosting Antioch guest artist Roger Shule – “the Matchbook Artist” – with an exhibition of 16 larger-than-life matchbook creations featuring iconic imagery from the 1930s and 1940s. Shule’s collection of super-sized three-dimensional wooden matchbooks is a nostalgic journey of both vintage and contemporary images used for advertising services and products. Shule’s matchbook art will be on view at the gallery through June 16.

At the opening reception, visitors also can meet the gallery’s 2024 collective artists who show their art year-round in the gallery. Juli Janovicz of Kenosha, Wisconsin, John Kirkpatrick of Libertyville and Ginny Krueger and Matthew Padilla of Grayslake will be showing new art this month including oil, acrylic, watercolor and encaustic paintings.

For information about the Blue Moon Gallery, visit http://www.thebluemoongallery.com.