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Artist Lori Anne Boocks likes to paint outside the box, and sometimes she likes to paint the boxes on fire.

Geometric shapes dominate the Germantown resident’s work, their presence accompanied by a murky wash of acrylic paint or barely legible words.

For Boocks, paintings like “Sedona Love Poem (somehow it was enough),” which shows two flaming boxes connected by a thin line, signify a willingness to come out of one’s shell.

“I think the box is the perfect symbol of when we clamp down on the things we want to do. We box ourselves in,” Boocks says. “Do we breach that barrier and let ourselves go?”

Along with the work of printmaker Elizabeth Grusin-Howe, Boocks’ art is on display at the brand-new Adah Rose Gallery in Kensington. The exhibit is titled “The Mysteries of Space and Place.”

The earliest pieces of Boocks’ art in the show were made in August 2010. Although she earned a bachelor’s degree in fine art from Old Dominion University in 1992, Boocks took a break from art beginning in 1996. Life, including raising her young daughter, had made setting aside time to paint difficult, she says.

It was at an Artomatic art show in 2009 that Boocks decided to return to the canvas. Despite the gap in time, Boocks’ style has changed very little.

“My husband says it’s like I never left making art. I was very much into abstraction — very gestural, very strong, emotional marks,” Boocks says.

Aside from shapes, text also is an important part of Boocks’ work. Pieces such as “A Beautiful Gravity (Falling),” which Boocks says is based on the feelings experienced when in love, contain blurry paragraphs with only barely visible keywords. These notes are taken from Boocks’ personal journals.

“I feel like I’m the keeper of stories. From my family’s stories or people I meet or I have known for awhile. I feel that people’s stories are imperative and important to remember,” Boocks says.

Gallery owner Adah Rose Bitterbaum says these words help add context to Boocks’ abstract paintings.

“It’s just kind of like a launching pad, but she doesn’t want to tell you what to think, but she does want you to think. The writing is important,” Bitterbaum says.

Bitterbaum first met Boocks and Grusin-Howe while working as director of Studio Gallery in Washington, D.C. “The Mysteries of Space and Place” is the inaugural exhibit Bitterbaum’s new gallery. She left Studio Gallery in June to pursue a lifelong goal.

“I had always wanted to have my own gallery, but I had never really thought about it,” she says.

Bitterbaum has not put out calls for artists to show in the gallery. Instead, she is using the connections she made in the metropolitan area art scene. For her, Boocks and Grusin-Howe were a perfect fit.

“They’re two people that I know very well,” Bitterbaum says. “They were artists that showed at Studio Gallery and I always loved their work. They both work in the sense of layers and hidden stories.”

Bitterbaum’s journey as an independent gallery owner began in the spring when she learned a friend was leaving her studio space on Kensington’s Antique Row. Bitterbaum says she modeled the small space after startup galleries she has seen in Brooklyn.

Visitors can come see the artwork on display or browse portfolios left by additional artists. Bitterbaum’s focus is to not only display the talents of dedicated artists such as Boocks and Grusin-Howe, but also to work with schools such as the Corcoran College of Art and Design to feature younger talent.

“I just think they need a boost and they also need the reality of what’s happening in the art world and press,” Bitterbaum says. “They’re really fresh.”

The second artist in the show is Potomac resident Elizabeth Grusin-Howe. While Grusin-Howe was born in Baltimore and grew up around Takoma Park, the subject of her prints is Venice, Italy. Her prints are defined by multiple layers of ink and wax.

“Every single print has about 20 layers in it taken on and taken off,” Bitterbaum says. “Some are wax, some are not … so if a person comes into see them, you might see five images of the same underlying photograph in this case, but each is unique.”

With an illustrative background that includes an art degree from the University of Maryland in 1971, Grusin-Howe has been making prints for more than five years. She began taking drawing and painting classes at the Corcoran in 1990 before becoming interested in printmaking. She continues to take classes, which she says helps keep her work fresh.

“When you’re in class, there’s lots of energy there,” she says. “And you can always learn stuff. There’s always something to learn when you’re with other people.”

For Grusin-Howe, subject is secondary to her process. Grusin-Howe is always experimenting, sometimes digitally printing an image in black and white and then adding multiple layers of clear ink. Next comes a cold wax phase mixed with oil paints. Etchings also are included to get a piece a rough texture.

The effect is hazy depictions of Venice’s Byzantine architecture and canals. Past subjects have included nudes and landscapes of the woods near her home. Still, Grusin-Howe and her husband travel to Italy every other year. She says she finds solace there.

“Venice is absolutely our favorite place in the universe. It is the most magical, wonderful, beautiful, relaxing place,” Grusin-Howe says. “There’s no cars, so it’s very quiet and the pace there is very slow.”

Stateside, Grusin-Howe and Boocks are honored to be the first artists featured at the Adah Rose Gallery.

“I myself was deeply flattered,” she says. “It’s just a sweet space.”

tforhecz@gazette.net

“The Mysteries of Space and Place” runs at the Adah Rose Gallery, 3766 Howard Ave., Kensington, through Oct. 9.The gallery is open from noon to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday and by appointment. For information, call 301-922-0162 or visit www.adahrosegallery.weebly.com