Gail Morris: Blue Note

The exhibition's title, Blue Note, is a nod to the musical concept of notes that fall just outside the standard Western scale — slightly flattened thirds, fifths, or sevenths that add depth, emotion, and complexity.  

Morris explains, "The Blues is a way of feeling things, and of experiencing them through a different lens." The same philosophy applies to her painting practice, where flattened perspectives and off-kilter compositions are used to disrupt and then re-balance the viewer’s perception. 

While the works in Blue Note lean toward abstraction, each one begins with a real place — a park, an island, a city block — that is then transformed through Morris’s signature layering of color, form, and spatial tension.  

"These paintings may not appear this way," she says, "but they are much more difficult for me to do than a traditional landscape. It’s fun, yes, but it’s hard work." 

This new collection is a continuation of a journey that began more than 30 years ago. Having sold hundreds of traditional landscapes early in her career, Morris transitioned into abstraction through her “Dissolving Light” series. Her current work continues to deconstruct and reinterpret landscapes, dissolving them into atmosphere and emotion.

Blue Note invites viewers into this altered way of seeing — one where place, memory, and music meet in unexpected harmony.