Photography by Nancy Howell-Koehler and Lettering Arts by Ann Bain

Flower Arrangement Designs by: Julie Netts Quinones,

Daria Mabra and Mary McKinney

July 21st-August 13^th

Opening Reception July 21^st 6-9 pm. 

At the YSAC Community Gallery

111 Corry Street, Yellow Springs

Start with the month, July, add in golden patches of sunshine, dark, rich, brown earth, blue skies, a soft breeze teasing plants into dancing, and the sweet smells and glorious rainbow of colors of flowers. The earth  aglow with beauty, light and color!  

Edith Wharton wrote: There are two ways to spreading the light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. That’s a favorite quote by Ann Bain.  With “COLOR:The Language of Flowers” we are spreading the light. 

Ann Bain’s a calligrapher who combines the arts of painting, drawing, poetry, drama, color, composition, ideas and words under the encompassing category of “lettering arts.”  Her intention for her art is to call attention, to clarify, to aspire, to inspire.  Bain says she has always been involved with art, “from when I could draw on the underside of my mother’s dining room table!”  She majored in art, involving herself in everything from graphics, illustration, painting to puppetry and writing.  She began exploring calligraphy in the early ’80’s.

In COLOR:The Language of Flowers you get to experience July through the candle and the mirror.

The mirror: Nancy Howell-Koehler’s exquisite photographs are up close still lifes of flowers. They have the impact and power of a Renaissance painting. She captures the essence of a living plant through a process that is immediate and detailed. Koehler scans the original live flower composition with the background and all details fixed in place.  Her eye has been honed through many years devoted to art. She graduated from the art program at OSU, got her Masters in Art Education at Wright State and was in the PHD Program at OSU.  She has written many articles about art and written and published 5 books on art from Furniture Finishing to Jewelry to Photo Journals and Photo Art Processes.  Nancy Howell-Koehler has taught Fine Art Photography at the Dayton Art Institute and at Antioch College.

The candle: Julie Netts Quinones is the 5^th generation owner of Netts Floral Company.  Her family has been creating beautiful arrangements of flowers for over 125 years.  Fourteen years ago Quinones opened a second flower store-Glen Garden Gifts & Flowers in Yellow Springs.

For over 20 years, Daria Mabra has been working with Julie Quinones to design flower arrangements.  Mary McKinney has been working with them for around 10 years.  When they work together , design ideas fly- what about this? What if we use this spiky plant? How about a deep blue with this? This flower will look great with that one! Lets try this vase.  They discuss color, shapes and texture, height and size, composition, the mood of the piece, what is the piece for, and what base would make it all come together. 

Julie Netts Quinones, Daria Mabra and Mary McKinney will be collaborating on a new design of flowers for each week of the show.  They love it when they get to do their own design!

Please join us for the Opening Reception July 21^st 6-9 pm.

 at the Yellow Springs Arts Council Community Gallery

111 Corry Street, Yellow Springs, Ohio