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Mark your calendar for Saturday, March 14 to attend the gala Grand Re-Opening at Gallery Moab's new location in McStiff's Plaza. The event will start at 5 p.m. and last until 8 with drawings to win artworks, snacks and the chance to enjoy meeting some of Moab's finest artists.

Gallery Moab is a co-op shared by sixteen local members, including painters and photographers. Also on display are works by consignment artists of sculpture, jewelry and ceramics. The new gallery at 59 S. Main Street is larger and more open than the old space, making room for more art and an improved viewing environment.

Featured at the event will be the work of March guest artist J. C. Borders, a master of pastel painting who will be on hand for a reception. A selection of his original work will be on display and for sale at Gallery Moab through April 10.

Attracted by Moab's beautiful scenery, Borders moved here more than 30 years ago, designed and built his own house, and started a photo tour business while continuing to develop his art. Pastel painting is similar to oils, but using solid sticks of pigment.

Borders describes his "love of the dense color, blending, and light and shade that is possible with holding great hunks of color right in your hand." Borders usually works in his home studio where he has twenty trays of pastel sticks and jars of pastel pencils, which "offer me endless possibilities to get just the right hue, shade and feel that I desire." Many of his images are of Moab area scenes. He often uses reference photos, but admits that he sometimes likes to "create my own improvisations on our wonderful desert geology."

The beauty of nature is an unending source of inspiration to Borders, who says: "From the fogs and watery greens and gray scenes of Oregon to the countless bright reds and yellow ochers of the Moab area, pastels continue to enrich my soul throughout the stops and starts in my life."

 Visitors can also view photographs by local fine artist Deborah Hughes, Gallery Moab's featured artist for March. Known for her images of the red rocks, rivers and mountains of the Colorado Plateau, Deborah has recently broken new ground to include impressionist and abstract images of those same subjects. To achieve this she uses camera movements during exposure, double exposure and combinations of the two techniques. She calls the process "Dancing with my camera." The results are luscious images full of vibrant color and implied motion.

For more information about Gallery Moab, visit their web site at www.gallerymoab.com where you can read more about the artists and view examples of their work. The gallery is open from noon through 9 p.m. daily.