Starting off 2024 on a high note, The Crane by artist Judith Roderick will be at Wild Hearts Gallery in January. The exhibit is a tribute to the crane, both the Sandhills and the endangered Whooping Crane, featuring silk art quilts, watercolors and a newly revised book of poems and artwork depicting their grace and beauty. These ancient, iconic, symbolic birds, who fly into our Rio Grande Valley each winter, have been revered by a myriad of cultures worldwide for thousands of years as symbols of peace, hope, longevity, fidelity, and as messengers between Heaven and Earth.
Roderick was a painting and design major in college and has been painting the beauty and diversity of our world ever since. Her quilting work is unique – she begins by painting on silk and then creates quilts from her original paintings and from prints of her work.
Roderick says: “Need upliftment for the New Year? May this show and book provide inspiration and food for thought, and inspire you to go observe them, up and down our valley, at the Bernardo wildlife area at Bosque del Apache. Long have they flown, since the age of the dinosaurs, long may they fly!”
A reception with refreshments will be held on Saturday, January 13 from 1-3 p.m. in the gallery.
Wild Hearts Gallery is an artists’ collective, supported by 16 local artists. Located at 221-B State Highway 165, the gallery is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Take a visual tour of the gallery wildheartsgallery.com.