Blue Moon Gallery launches new art season

GRAYSLAKE – Blue Moon Galley presents “Wall Flowers,” a fine art juried exhibition visually exploring the immense beauty and diversity of flowers and the positivity, happiness, inspiration and healing that flowers bring to people.

The exhibition opens Saturday, March 22, with a reception that is free and open to the public from 6 to 9 p.m. at the gallery located at 18620 Belvidere Road in Grayslake.

“Wall Flowers” features fine art from more than 60 artists living and working in Illinois and Wisconsin and showcases more than 40 species of flowers using more than 30 artistic mediums and materials.

About 150 pieces of art were submitted for consideration to be selected for Blue Moon Gallery’s first exhibition of the year. Sixty-nine pieces were chosen.

“This very special show, which launches our 2025 art season, is just in time for spring and promises an eye-popping, sensational and smile-inducing hit of dopamine,” Kendra Kett, director of Blue Moon Gallery, said in a news release. “Everyone is welcome to attend our opening reception and experience how our selected artists have perfectly captured the natural beauty of flowers with their many vibrant colors, delicate architecture and diverse textures that are all so appealing to our senses.”

“Love of Mine” by Beth Berry, an artist from Aurora, captures the beauty of zinnias and coleus and celebrates the charm of overlooked blooms. Berry was inspired by the flowers in her garden where the zinnias thrived in the only sunny spot available. Berry’s 12-by-12 acrylic painting explores the joy of simple flowers and the connections we find in unexpected spaces.

Tara Riley, an artist from Arlington Heights, first became enchanted with purple opium poppies at a garden party and wanted to know more about them. Her 18-by-24 oil and acrylic painting “Pursuit of Dreams” ably expresses the poppy’s symbolism of resilience and the enduring spirit of humanity.

A Grayslake artist who goes by Sam The Jam submitted her piece titled “Wisteria,” a 6-by-16 artwork of acrylic paint on hand-carved leather framed in white wood. Wisteria is thought to be a symbol of good luck, success and devotion.

Award-winning artist Phil Schorn of Grayslake will be showing his 25-by-25 artwork titled “Pink Iris” rendered in color pencil. Schorn’s one-of-a-kind color pencil works give a sense of both quiet calm and exciting, joyous delight where his imagery, often on black background, jumps off the page.

Additional mediums in “Wall Flowers” include encaustic, watercolor, photography, wood, color pencil, monoprint, linocut, ink and mosaic.

Some of the 40+ flower varieties guests can expect to see include roses, daffodils, peonies, daisies, irises, lilies, geraniums, gladiolas, magnolias and gardenia.

The gallery will be serving wine at the opening reception.

“Wall Flowers” will be on view through April 27. Gallery hours are 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays starting March 29.

The gallery also is showcasing its 2025 Resident Artist, Michael Litewski of Zion, who will be presenting innovative new and recent works he created using a CNC machine.

For more information about the gallery, visit www.bluemoongallery.com.