Creating Serenity on Hoopers Island: Scott Philip Georgens

from Tidewater Times March 2021

Kent County

Creating Serenity on Hoopers Island

by Scott Philip Goergens

The world has been going through incredible shifts in the cosmos, with a monumental planetary alignment that has not happened for almost 800 years. Fires have consumed great swaths of land and highways, and businesses have emptied. As unrest crosses the globe in the wake of a pandemic ~ the scale of which is still being determined ~ each of us has sought ways to process all that we have experienced. How do we move forward, and how do we heal?

Some artists find this time of isolation and fear difficult to navigate. Others, like Maryland artist Tracy Lambros, use this time to process and purge these feelings. When we stop and push out the thoughts that do not serve us, we can sit with what does. Lambros sits with what does as she experiences, and is inspired by, the open spaces and environments that bring peace to the soul.

The waterways, marshlands, farms, roads and towns of the Chesapeake Bay region have become places of serenity and contemplation for Lambros over the years, and especially recently. Despite the challenging events of our times, the view from Lambros’s studio window of Tar Bay remains the same. The clouds still move across the sky, and the sun continues to rise and set every day to create a new and magnificent array of color and form across the landscape and horizon: a pattern of timeless beauty that have drawn her and her husband, Will, to live on beautiful Hoopers Island since 2007.

Tracy recounts ~ “Will and I

Tracy Lambros

were drawn to Hoopers Island because of the tranquility and the natural beauty of the island and the bay. Our Baltimore-based friends, who also live on Horns Point, introduced us to the island and gave us a driving tour with a stop off at a fried chicken and oyster fundraiser at the local Hoopers Island Volunteer Fire Company. After a second visit and an introduction to the seafood at Old Salty’s,we were smitten, and it has been a sanctuary and an escape from our busy lives in Baltimore ever since. We truly begin to unwind as we cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and love being part of the small community of Fishing Creek. Our home is a century-old traditional farmhouse, which needed quite a bit of love and renovation, and is still very much a work in progress.

Barren Island

EASTERN SHORE TITLE COMPANY

e Mid-Shore’s Leader in Real Estate Title Services “Why settle for less when you can settle with the best!”

Melissa Grimes-Guy Photography 114 North West Street | Easton, MD 21601 410.820.4426 | www.easternshoretitle.com

Originally, I had hoped that an old barn on the property would be my studio, but unfortunately it could not be salvaged. Scarborough Fair of Mardela Springs designed and built a studio for me close to the house, and it worked out perfectly.” When asked how the pandemic impacted their lives on the island, Lambros said, “Prior to the pandemic, we entertained friends and family from out of town often, but in 2020, that ended, and we didn’t see our friends in the community as often, either. While there was a somberness that blanketed our moods because of the chaos, sadness and unrest in the world, we found some bright spots in our days in that we were able to have lunch together often, take more bike rides and hikes, and we teamed up

Tar Bay 1 116

Creating Serenity fore COVID-19 was what it has become), Lambros thought her art with friends to find homes for a lit- would continue in the vein and reter of stray kittens on the island. flect the tranquility of some of the With almost all our professional works shown in What Resonates, and social engagements cancelled, her 2019 exhibition at Gallery Blue postponed or relegated to “virtual” Door. “One particular painting due to COVID-19 restrictions, we titled Serenity comes to mind as spent most of our time on the is- the direction in which I had anticiland from April through early No- pated moving. However, in 2020, vember. It is my practice to work the peaceful, idyllic island life that in the studio every day, so that did lends itself to that state of mind was not change, and I was truly able to challenged by a myriad of emotions focus on creating work for my new brought on by a country in politic exhibition. My husband worked re- turmoil, natural disasters and a motely from an office he set up in world in crisis due to the pandemthe house because his Baltimore- ic. The palettes and atmosphere based office was closed.” created in some of my works, like While mentally preparing for Red Tar Bay 1 and Red Tar Bay 2, the exhibit this time last year (be- reflect that the fires out west (and

TREK Verve+ 2 Lowstep Electric Bike

Your daily cruises, commutes, and workouts will all get a boost from the reliable Bosch pedal-assist system that sustains speeds of up to 20 mph. 723 Goldsborough St. · Easton · 410-822-RIDE(7433)

in other parts of the world) were on my mind. I remember pondering what if that happened to our tiny, quiet community ~ it was unfathomable, and my heart ached for the victims. Even though the island was relatively peaceful, my mind was restless and anxious ~ and my heart was heavy.”

Lambros’s artist’s statement for her upcoming solo exhibition, titled Transcend, at Gallery Blue Door touches on her frame of mind while creating her new work:

“Painting has always been my way to not only interpret my world,

Tar Bay 2 120

but also to transcend it. When in my studio and deeply immersed in the process of painting, the chaos of our times falls away. These works, created mostly in 2020, were inspired by the natural surroundings on Hoopers Island, the Blackwater Wildlife Refuge and the Chesapeake Bay region ~ places that provided tranquil sanctuaries throughout a turbulent year. Current events, however, were ever present in my mind and heart as I worked each day. The daily emotional whiplash triggered by seemingly endless horrifying and unconscionable events also informed this body of work, however, did not define it. Transcendence for me is a peaceful rebellion.”

Tracy holds an MFA in painting and a BFA in photography from Maryland Institute College of Art

Studio table made by late Maryland sculptor Reuben Kramer.

Island Marine Construction LLC

Licensed and Insured Osprey Platforms & Poles Marine Construction Dock Replacement New Docks · Pile Driving Bulkhead 410-829-9720

Islandmarinellc@yahoo.com Ronnie Reiss & Jason Wilson

Lic. # 138618

(MICA). She lived in Manhattan for nearly a decade (including a year on a houseboat on the Hudson River), where she maintained a studio and began exhibiting her artwork professionally. She moved back to Maryland, earned her graduate degree, met her husband and works full time as an artist. She is known for her luminous oil paintings that evoke land, sea and sky. Transcend will be her second solo exhibition at Gallery Blue Door. Her paintings, photographs and drawings have been exhibited nationally and internationally in solo, juried and invitational shows and are widely collected. She was

recently awarded a Purchase Prize by Circle Gallery in coordination with National Harbor for painting Luminous Eventide 1.

Lambros’s painting Cerrillos Sky and her photograph Kauai 3 were accepted into the Annual Cumberland Valley Artists Exhibition and the Annual Cumberland Valley Photographers Exhibition at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts and are currently on view there. In 2020, her works were accepted into the highly competitive 9 for 19 nine-person exhibition at First Street Gallery in New York City. When not in her studio, she spends time traveling, seeing exhibitions, bike riding, reading, gardening and advocating for causes that make the world a less violent and more equitable place to live.

Transcend will be on view at Gallery Blue Door in Baltimore March 20-April 24, 2021. For more information and to arrange a private viewing, visit gallerybluedoor.com or contact Scott Goergens directly at gallerybluedoor@ gmail.com. You can see additional art at tracylambros.art.

Scott Philip Goergens is the director of Gallery Blue Door in Baltimore, Maryland.