IGNITION Gallery “You and I: Anelecia Hannah and Charles PhilipBrooks”

Engaged painters Anelecia Hannah and Charles Philip Brooks present paintings from two long-standing traditions of American painting.

These young painters each embody a tradition in American painting. At age 26, Anelecia Hannah’s quiet still lifes, interiors and portraits draw on traditions passed down through a lineage of American painters–careful craftsmanship and meditative observation are wedded with continual wonder and curiosity in every day visual experience. Charles Philip Brooks is widely known for his evocative, atmospheric landscapes in the poetic form of the American Tonalist tradition. His new works are a love letter to Anelecia, his soon-to-be wife. They feature the skies and waters of Vashon Island, which Charles newly calls home, after a move from his native North Carolina. Both painters’ recent work is infused with the sincere love and joy of their relationship.

Reflecting on the spirit of her recent work, Hannah says, "My paintings have always been an exploration of my inner workings with the help of symbols found around me. The work I have created over the last year defines a shift in my inner workings—I met Charles. There’s a sort of synchronicity in the work I was creating just prior to our introduction—paintings about wholeness of self and the nature of love. Since we first began writing back and forth, I’ve known both an expansion of my palette and an expansion of self. "

Regarding his paintings, Brooks says, "These works are a painted love letter. They are an old song sung by a man as men have always sung - as metaphor for the offering of the heart and of the noblest version of the self. They are an old story told as men have always told stories - with cherished women at the center. All men believe that the women they adore are representative of some miracle. In showing the public one element of my personal devotion, I am demonstrating the relationship of art and love in a pure sense.

Anelecia is precious and profound to me. We are muse and equal for each other."

"You and I" will be on view from through –July 29, 2012. Visitors are welcomed to visit the gallery W-Sat 12-5pm, Sun 1-5pm, or by appointment. See www.anelecia.com and www.charlesphilipbrooks.com for examples of the painters’ respective works.

Contact: Lisa Hurst, Ignition Gallery Owner
Tel. 206-856-6906
17630 Vashon Hwy S.W.
Vashon
ignitionart@yahoo.com