The Orange Art Gallery in Ottawa, Ontario is hosting an exclusive exhibit called “Life’s Simple Pleasures”. From February 4 to the 22nd, the gallery will be showcasing over 30 sculptures by Maria Saracino that celebrate the simplicity and rewards of everyday life. With Valentine’s Day landing right in the middle of the exhibit, there will be a collection of works that fall in the “Romance” sub category – after all, romance is one of life’s sweetest simple pleasures.

Here’s an example from the Romance collection. This piece is called “Love Letters”. 15″ tall, this character is reminiscing over the letters of her young beau. Many years have passed, but the words still bring her back in the moment.

Also included in the exhibit is a series of 20 relief sculptures called “Study of Expression”. Here’s a picture of the series, but it’s even better in person. Each portrait is sculpted directly on a tile that sits in a 10″ x 10″ frame. Whimsical characterizations of the people in our lives, if you have the opportunity to visit the gallery you’ll probably recognize some of them. There’s even an example of a portrait commission in this series.

Maria will be doing a demonstration and offering some hands-on mini-workshops on the first Saturday of the exhibit, February 7th from 1 to 5pm. I hope you can make it, but for those of you who live too far, keep checking this blog and the various social media sites for photos of the new pieces.

http://www.saracinocollection.com             http://www.facebook.com/saracinocollection   http://www.orangeartgallery.ca