Blueline to open nature themed gallery

Two artists who focus on how struggle and hope are reflected in everyday nature will have their artwork featured on the walls of Blueline Gallery of Media Productions Friday night.

Blueline Media Productions will present the works of Danielle Urschel and Alyssa Mahern as part of the Bloomington Gallery Walk. The opening reception is from 5 to 8 p.m. today. The exhibit will remain open until June 1.

Urschel said her work is based on themes from everyday life. Both of her series use the seasons to represent her triumph over struggles.

“I have a couple series,” she said. “One is kind of based on winter, and how desolate winter is, and it is called ‘Hope and Winter.’”

Her other series featured a battle between birds and snakes. Urschel is also a member of the Bloomington Print Collective, a local non-profit print shop that provides services open to the public.

Blueline owner Chelsea Sanders said while Urschel’s and Mahern’s artworks both depict nature, their styles differ in some ways. She said they make an excellent exhibition combined.

“The way these two artists interact together is really captivating,” Sanders said.

Mahern said her family’s support of the arts when she was a child influenced much of her work. When she taught public art to elementary students in Indianapolis, she enjoyed building kids’ confidence in making art.

Mahern’s motivation to start painting came in those seven years when she was teaching art to children, but through a gloomier channel.

“I began painting after serving as a juror on a murder case,” Mahern said. “It was four days that really had an impact on me.”

The trial, she said, gave her a desire to communicate in a different way in order to expand her platforms and depict the humanity of the world.

“Even the murderer was very human,” she said.

Mahern said she put a lot of time into two particular series she worked on, which are being exhibited at Blueline. One of these, “Looking for a Home,” is a series of five paintings made from photos.

“Those moments would have just passed by if I didn’t stop to look at them,” she said of the fleeting landscapes depicted in her art.

Both Urschel and Mahern are selling certain works from their exhibitions. 

Blueline intern and IU senior Erin Ritchie said the Blueline’s new exhibit for Gallery Walk is very colorful. She is glad to be a part of the fusion of arts Blueline accumulates., she added.

“There are usually free appetizers and drinks,” she said, “You can just walk around amongst the galleries and stop by each one.”