Wheeler Arts Community Spring Show - Wheeler Arts Community - May 5, 2004 - 2 stars

Mostly familiar work by familiar artists presented beautifully in the front lobby and trickling back into one artist's home studio. Susan Hodgin's "The Lake," a large 40-inch-by-1 20-inch three-part painting on panel was reminiscent of an art nouveau illustration. The scene in red features heavily outlined ornamental trees, again familiar, against a landscape of flat, staggered planes in varying flat fields of poppy tones that emphasize the design quality. Three mixed media pieces trace flower designs in flat brushes in pen and paint. Choices of color give these pieces appeal. Kipp Normand's three home shrines, found object ceramic religious statuary tucked into decorative glass front boxes - were just that - lacked context and greater meaning than his architectural reliquaries of last year. Overall, this was a design-heavy show with the artwork displayed dependent on competent arrangement. Participants, a diverse group of sure talents, were only in part Wheeler artists. Occurred May 1, 2004. -Mary Lee Pappas