Email
PrintArtist closeup
Jeanie Gooden, painter of "The Signed in Red" collection at M.A. Doran Gallery.
I heard church bells ringing beauty into the air when I spoke with Jeanie Gooden on the phone. In the last year, she sold her Tulsa home and moved to San Miguel, Mexico.
It was there that Gooden created her latest show, “Signed in Red,” which stemmed from the artist’s desire to encourage people to focus on the positive things in their lives.
Gooden began with a quote from John Updike, “What art offers is space — a certain breathing room for the spirit.”
“From a global context, it seems we could all use some breathing room in terms of good news. The news is often so negative. Signed in red is meant to be a warm, happy reminder that all of us can choose to focus on the good things in life rather than the negative,” she says.
Gooden graced each painting with a red mark, hence the title of her show.
“Red is so positive, so powerful and so never passive at all,” she says. “We are living in such a crazy time. I’m thinking about how people can leave the show feeling good. (The red mark) is a visual cue to people — tapping them on the shoulder and saying, ‘Hey, let’s think about love, hope and all things good.’”
Gooden’s art always comes from a deeply personal place, but she is hopeful this concept will translate for every person.
“I can only hope that the idea translates to people who see it,” she says. “I think I have presented ideas (with) which most of us can identify.”
Come experience this show just for the chance that this collection of 25 paintings will do as Gooden hopes — “provide for you a space or breathing room for the spirit.”
Event: “Signed in Red: New Paintings by Jeanie Gooden”
Details: 5-8 p.m., June 11
Gallery: M.A. Doran Gallery, 3509 S. Peoria Ave.
Pictured: Each painting in Jeanie Gooden's latest collection includes a red mark, symbolizing optimism and love. Photo courtesy of M.A. Doran Gallery.
This month’s art events
“The Eye Knows What the Hand Sees: New Paintings by E. Scott Hurst” This show marks the first group of paintings E. Scott Hurst has produced in 10 years. His father’s struggle with Alzheimer’s and other personal experiences brought Hurst back to his craft. These abstract paintings burst forth with meshes of color interacting together, competing for attention across the canvas. It makes sense that his work would reflect urgency and abundance after such a long break. June 5-27; opening reception, June 5, 6-9 p.m. Tulsa Artists’ Coalition Gallery, 9 E. Brady Ave., 592-0041, www.tacgallery.org
Caryl MacMorran Jewelry Trunk Show Purchase some art for your wrist, ears or neck at Color Connection Gallery.
Caryl MacMorran uses a variety of semi-precious stones, beads and crystals to create unusual yet classic jewelry.
Also during June, Color Connection will display new impressionistic landscapes and still life oil paintings by Carla Perry. June 20, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Color Connection Gallery, 2050 Utica Square, 742-0515
