Margie Crisp’s mastery of several disciplines allows her to fluently transition between media. In addition to her command of egg tempera, printmaking, and watercolor, she is also an award-winning author. Her passion for conservation is reflected in her approach and execution of intimate bird and plant-life portraits, sweeping landscapes, which teem with life, and written studies of our natural environment.

David Everett’s sculptures and woodcuts boast an imaginative combination of plants and animals from the land, sea, and sky. His integration of so much life into flowing compositions reflects the interconnectedness of our natural world. Everett slowly chips away at solid hardwood blocks with traditional mallet and wood gouges. Multiple thin layers of vibrant oil paint bring his work to life, complete with surprising kinetic details.

Billy Hassell, who was designated “Mother Nature’s Stylist” by The New York Times, creates vivid oil paintings and hand-colored lithographs. His canvases are an amplified symphony of abundant, energetic life, however Hassell conscientiously pulls his dazzling color palette and powerful geometric patterns and forms directly from reality. His emphasis on the complexity in the markings of a Monarch butterfly, or the symmetry of an agave brings an unexpected wonderment to each scene.

William B. Montgomery’s approach to his work is very much informed by the influence classical European painting had on him while he studied at the Academia di Belle Arti de Perugia in Italy. Montgomery’s serene landscapes offer a stark contrast to the work of his counterparts in this exhibit. Meticulous realism and traditional compositions present a space for viewers to quietly reflect on underlying themes that emerge through the unsettling presence of refineries on littered shorelines or discarded tires just beneath docile yellow catfish.