‘Beam-ing’ impressions at art gallery

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on April 19, 2018

Visitors to Barbara Moore Fine Art Gallery check out Jacalyn Beam's work during the opening night reception of the exhibit, Impressions.

According to Barbara Moore of Barbara Moore Fine Art, Jacalyn Beam’s work “just pulls you in.” Friends and admirers of Beam’s art were pulled into Moore’s gallery Wednesday night for Beam’s new exhibit, Impressions.

Beam — a plein air impressionist — has been a local and regional favorite for years. Moore said it’s the nature of Beam’s vision that makes her work so appealing.

Artist Jacalyn Beam chats with some of the people who came to see her new exhibit at Barbara Moore Fine Art Gallery.

“It’s local and colorful, yet has softness with that great depth of color,” Moore said. “It really stands out. She takes things you see every day but makes you really look at them. There will be one element that strikes you, really grabs your attention, but that just pulls you in. You want to see the rest of the story.”

Impressions is the first solo exhibition at Moore’s studio since The Chadds Ford Gallery left the area. Moore had been the director there for decades and Beam said she feels honored to be showing at what is now Barbara Moore Fine Art Gallery. Beam referred to Moore with the Anglo-French term for great lady.

"She’s the graund dame of art in Chadds Ford. I’m honored to be working with someone so knowledgeable," she said.

Reflecting on her own work, Beam said some of the same things Moore said, explaining that she wants to show people things they see every day, but to get them to see those things differently.

The bulk of the paintings in the exhibit were done plein air, or outside on location, not in a studio. Her dedication to plein air led Beam to initiate the annual plein air event at the Chadds Ford Historical Society eight years ago. She said in an interview then that the sounds and aromas of being on site influence her work as much as the visual elements of what she sees. Beam’s work has shown at the old Chadds Ford Gallery numerous times and she was also the featured artist at this year’s art show at Chadds Ford Elementary School.

Impressions runs through May 2, but Beam will also discuss her work at the gallery next Wednesday, April 25, from 5-7 p.m. Barbara Moore Fine Art Gallery is in The Barn Shops in Chadds Ford Township, 1609 Baltimore Pike (Route 1).

About Rich Schwartzman

Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.