BC alumna to exhibit work at Bridgewater College

Debra Sheffer, graphic design director at Bridgewater College and a 1980 graduate of BC, will exhibit “Recent Works, Plein Air Paintings” in the Cleo Driver Miller Art Gallery March 18 – April 14 at Bridgewater College.

An artist’s reception will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday, March 18, in the Miller Gallery. The exhibition and reception are open to the public at no charge.

The collection of work in this exhibition is landscapes of rural Virginia.

“I often paint close to my home in Mount Sidney, out my windows and in my yard,” said Sheffer. “The unspoiled fields and rivers of Highland and Bath counties are happy weekend destinations in the summertime.”

En plein air translates from French as “in the open air” and is descriptive of painters who paint outdoors.

Observing and translating the three-dimensional aspect of a scene to a two-dimensional one is the challenge.

Beginning her work on-site, Sheffer examines and commits to memory first impressions and then carries those impressions through to the finish, allowing for unexpected changes that add interest.

“I am attracted to the interplay of light and shadow and how their interaction defines space in the landscape,” said Sheffer.

Sheffer’s work has been included in solo and group exhibits locally, including Pampered Palate, Shenandoah Valley Art Center, Blue Mountain Coffee, Mustoe House Gallery and Nelson Street Gallery.

Sheffer is one of the original members of CoArt Gallery in Staunton, Va., and has been a student of Beverley Street Studio School since 1992.

The Miller Gallery is located on the second floor of the Alexander Mack Memorial Library. The Gallery is open 8 a.m. to midnight Monday – Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 to 11 p.m. Sunday.

Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to approximately 1,750 undergraduate students.