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BY AARON RICHARDSON

Artists of two very different tones are in harmony this month at Art First Gallery at 824 Caroline Street.

While the styles of Karen Whelpley and Linda Warshaw seem like polar opposites, their works find common ground through subject matter.

Both painters are animal lovers--and while Whelpley creates captivating oil-on-canvas paintings, and Warshaw uses unique collage to personify animals, their works show well together.

This month, Whelpley said she wants to commemorate the races at Montpelier by focusing on horses and pastoral scenes from Virginia.

"I wanted to capture Virginia life," she said. "It just made me look at more things. Seeing the colors of the fall and picking them off my palette was exciting."

Whelpley said she likes to take an image and make it come to life in paint.

"What I love about [painting] is starting something and thinking about color and light and creating something really beautiful," she said.

While the majority of Whelpley's work this month focuses on Virginia landscapes and animals, the painting that means the most to Whelpley is a portrait called "Steven's Choice."

The painting depicts a blond-haired, blue-eyed young man in a white doctor's coat next to a medical skeleton.

The subject of the painting is Whelpley's son, who had just finished his first year of medical school.

"That's a special painting for me," Whelpley said. "There's a lot of symbolism in that painting."

Warshaw, on the other hand, displays a series of collages she made to celebrate the personalities of animals.

Warshaw decided on doing collages after a horseback-riding accident in August left her unable to paint for three weeks.

"As an artist, you're supposed to be creative; always looking for something new," she said.

Not content to sit around while she healed, Warshaw started cutting and pasting collages together, based on her love of dogs and a desire to help the SPCA.

"All of this came together from being creative, having to sit, loving animals and wanting to help the SPCA," she said.

Warshaw has a display of her works for sale at Henzler Chiropractic, with all the proceeds going to the SPCA.

Each of Warshaw's works this month depicts either a dog or a cat dressed in Victorian attire, complete with a biography of each one.

"I thought about these little personalities, and I tried to humanize them a bit," she said. "You do laugh at them, but I'm dead serious about the personalities that animals have."

Warshaw said her favorite pieces are those closest to her. Her collage of "William Skippingham," a Jack Russell terrier famous for his brewery, is taken directly from a photo of one of her own dogs.

Another work, called "Lucinda Lovelace," will stay with Warshaw for a different reason.

"I'm keeping her because she's me," Warshaw said. "She's got this different wildness, but it's kind of hidden."

Aaron Richardson: 540/374-5000, ext. 5617
Email: arichardson@freelancestar.com