When Nature Calls

Cain Park opens its gallery season tonight with Take a Bite Out of Art, an exhibit featuring work by local artists Lee Heinen and Adele Marihatt.

Heinen says her landscape paintings could never compete with the real thing, so she ditches imitation and uses Mother Nature as a launching point to her own interpretation of flowers and sunsets. “There are always variations and imperfections [in nature],” she says. “You look for your own voice in paintings, just like a performer.” Heinen’s expressionism is rooted in realism, but she says she’s not afraid to “push the color” for the sake of her art. “Color and form become more important than the subject,” she says. “You want each inch of the canvas to be an interesting surface.” Acrylic artist Marihatt displays some pieces from her Reflections series, which she conceived while sipping tea at a Japanese teahouse a few years ago. Her paintings include images of children, trees, and ponds. The serene settings complement Heinen’s contributions. “I always have a poem in my paintings,” says Marihatt.
June 19-July 15, 6:30-9 p.m.