Dates: Saturday, June 8 - Sunday, August 25
Reception: Friday, July 5th from 5pm-7pm in the west lobby at Matthaei Botanical Gardens.
State of Play
What is play? Who’s to say? The animals of these fields and woods, streams and ponds surely know. They take time each day to adventure and roam, scamper and scout. The plants and trees excitedly join in. Some bend and sway and some glisten in rain. Perhaps each invites their friends from away to come and show them new ways of play. Let’s have a look and spend the day imagining what happens when we look away. An exploration of encounters real and imagined by local artist, Nicole Ray.
Bio
Nicole Ray is an artist and illustrator living in Brighton, Michigan. She grew up in a small beach town in New York with her toes deep in the sand and her head buried in books. Nicole creates a whimsical line of art prints and paper goods under the name Sloe Gin Fizz.
From quirky animal and vegetable characters to nostalgia-filled interiors and calming views of nature, Nicole’s hand-drawn scenes are highly accessible, infused with a playful sense of humor and a strong narrative quality.
Nicole holds a BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts, as well as a BA in History from Trinity College in Hartford, CT. Nicole and her mister live in a log house on a lake just north of Ann Arbor with a spoiled border collie named Stella and an ever-expanding network of critter friends.
