By Colleen Cullison
Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services
A new exhibit titled, “God’s Handiwork,” by local artist Carole Bradbury opens at the Leep Art Gallery on Jan. 4. The exhibit is at the Postma Center on the Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services campus in Grand Rapids.
Bradbury is inspired by the beautiful landscapes of the Hudson River School artists’ Thomas Hill, Albert Bierdstadt, Edwin Church and Frederic Edwin Church whom left notable legacy of American landscape art.
She attended classes at Scottsdale Art School in Arizona where Bradbury’s instructors were well known floral artist Linda Glover-Gooch and landscape artist Ralph Oberg. While living in Arizona, she also enjoyed the soft hues of the desert and was mentored with six others by California artist Don Newhouse. He encouraged her to switch from acrylics to oils to get richer colors.
In her art, Bradbury hopes the viewers can feel the peace of the quiet rivers, the grandeur of our Great Lakes and wonderful waterfalls. Her passion is to capture some of God’s handiwork in the great outdoors and his delicate design in our flowers.
She was a member of the Wickenburg Arizona Art Club where members received monthly classes with accomplished artists, and was a member of the Arizona Women’s Plein Aire Group. Two Metropolitan Opera singers have two of her painting in their collection. Her art pieces have been sold in the Caribbean, Arizona, Virginia and in the Michigan cities of St. Joseph, Grand Rapids and Rockford.
Bradbury and her husband, who live in Comstock Park, have 16 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
The exhibit will be on display at Pine Rest Postma Center located at 300 68th St. SE, from Jan. 4 – Mar. 22. The Leep Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. and is free and open to the public. For more information, call 616-222-4530 or go to www.pinerest.org/events.
