“The paradisiacal Springs of North Florida are my paintings’ subject and metaphor. The springs paintings begin on site at the water’s edge and often in the water. I swim in the springs, I sketch underwater; I am inspired to write when I am beside
them.”
Margaret Ross Tolbert is a painter based in Gainesville, Florida. Over the last twenty years she has executed series of paintings, drawings and lithographs from studios in the U.S., France, and Turkey. Permanent installations include commissioned painting projects in Istanbul, Turkey; Baku, Azerbaijan; and Muscat, Oman, enabling her to continue her research for her series, Doors, and study of language and dance from the regions of the ancient trade routes. Another continuing focus is the Springs of North Florida, whose wondrous presence provides a sense of ideal destination and the exotic in the here-and-now that counterpoints the sense of passage, time and journey implicit in the Door paintings. Her work also includes performance based on ethnic dance and the pursuit of the exotic.
Tolbert received both her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Florida, Gainesville. Solo shows include exhibitions at the University of Richmond Museums, Virginia; Lemieux Galleries, New Orleans, Louisiana; Edgezones, Miami, and Gulfcoast Museum of Art, Largo, both in Florida; and Edsvik Konsthall, Sollentuna and Galleri Max, Stockholm, both in Sweden. Her work has also been included in group exhibitions at Joie Lassiter Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina; Edsvik Konsthall, Sollentuna, Sweden; and the Harn Museum, Gainesville, Florida. The recipient of several awards, she recently published GEZI, a book of sketches and narratives from travels in Eastern Turkey.
www.margaretrosstolbert.com
