FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 2026

Seed: A new exhibition at Andra Norris Gallery, curated by Elizabeth Barlow and Andra Norris,
explores flowers as symbols of transformation

Bay Area, CA – Andra Norris Gallery presents Seed, a new exhibition curated by artist Elizabeth Barlow and Andra Norris, featuring mid-career and established artists working across watercolor, oil painting, sculpture, and drawing. The exhibition is on view September 26 – November 7, 2026, with an artist reception on Saturday, October 3rd, 4:00 – 6:00 PM. 

In Seed, flowers become both subjects and symbols — sites of exploration that move beyond representation into meditations on beauty, decay, renewal, loss, and transformation. Together, the exhibition’s works form a dialogue between artists who each approach flowers in distinct ways: as emblems of pure beauty, rebirth, transcendence, fragility, and hope. Inside every flower lies a powerful force: a seed of regeneration and resilience. Across disciplines and perspectives, the works in Seed deepen our understanding of flowers as enduring carriers of emotional, spiritual, and natural meaning.

“Flowers are symbols of the hope that lies within all nature, of the power to regenerate and be transformed,” says Elizabeth Barlow. “There is this same little seed inside each one of us, because we are all part of the miracle that is life on this earth.”

The exhibition includes works by artists Elizabeth Barlow, Donald Bradford, Gary Bukovnik, Pamela Carroll, Willard Dixon, Troy House, Jane Kim, Justyna Kisielewicz, David Ligare, Susan Manchester, Stephen Namara, Demetra Theofanous, and Tiffanie Turner. 

Exhibition Details

On View: September 26 – November 7, 2026
Artist Reception: Saturday, October 3rd, 4:00 – 6:00 PM

Andra Norris Gallery
311 Lorton Avenue
Burlingame, CA 94010

Exhibiting Artists:

Elizabeth Barlow
Donald Bradford
Gary Bukovnik
Pamela Carroll
Willard Dixon
Troy House
Jane Kim
Justyna Kisielewicz
David Ligare
Susan Manchester
Stephen Namara
Demetra Theofanous
Tiffanie Turner

About Elizabeth Barlow

Elizabeth Barlow grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah, in a house filled with art and surrounded by flower gardens. Her father was the late artist Philip Barlow, and after a detour in the performing arts, she followed his inspiration back to painting. Barlow earned her BA at the University of Utah, and Masters’ Degree from the University of Virginia. After some years living abroad, she relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she continued her arts education at UC Berkeley Extension. There she studied drawing and painting with Donald Bradford and others, earning a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate with Distinction in Visual Arts. In 2007 she studied in New York City at the Art Students League.

A contemporary still-life artist, Barlow follows a time-honored practice. She begins by making a pencil sketch of her subject on an oil-primed, custom-made linen support. She follows this with an alla prima (initial wet on wet) layer of oil paint in color. Multiple glazed layers follow, a meticulous and time-consuming process that results in works of luminosity and depth. To develop her composition she takes hundreds of photographs to use as her references, later combining them to realize the vision she is after.

In her San Francisco studio, Barlow devised an innovative approach to portraiture, her favorite genre of painting. In collaboration with her subjects, she composed arrangements of their most meaningful possessions. She documented personal items such as jewelry, favorite clothing, books, and a variety of precious keepsakes. With an intimacy more characteristic of ordinary portraiture, these still lifes exhibit a powerful presence. Although she no longer creates them, the Portraits in Absentia series was well-received and exhibited often.

With her move to the Monterey Peninsula in 2016, Barlow’s work underwent a transformation. Finding herself immersed in sea air and surrounded by forests and year-round flowers, she was inspired to take nature as her subject. In response to a commission, Barlow began to paint flowers, which led to her current series, Flora Portraits. She sees flowers as potent symbols of life force, of strength within fragility, and of the power of re-emergence that lies within all living things. With the support of her daily meditation practice, she believes that painting flowers is a transformative practice that allows her to slow down, look deeply, and develop a deep reverence for all living things.

Elizabeth Barlow is represented by Andra Norris Gallery in Burlingame, CA. Her work is held in public and corporate collections including the Monterey Museum of Art; San Francisco Opera, San Francisco, CA; the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA; The Absinthe Group, San Francisco, CA; and the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, CA. She gains inspiration from artists Georgia O’Keeffe, Martha Alf, Johannes Vermeer, Claudio Bravo, and David Ligare, but her late father Philip Barlow remains her most revered teacher and principal artistic influence. In 2023, her work was featured in the exhibition Flora Fauna at the Monterey Museum of Art.

Website: https://www.elizabethbarlowart.com
Instagram: @elizabethbarlowart

About Andra Norris Gallery 

Andra Norris Gallery is located in the heart of downtown Burlingame, California, between San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Since opening in 2012, the gallery has developed a reputation for thoughtful, carefully curated exhibitions that reflect a strong point of view while remaining accessible to a wide range of collectors.

The gallery presents nine exhibitions each year, featuring painting, photography, and sculpture by both established and mid-career artists. Many of the artists have ties to the Bay Area, while others bring broader international perspectives. Each artist is chosen for the strength of their work and the ideas that quietly unfold within it.

Beyond exhibitions, the gallery functions as a space for conversation and exchange. Artist talks, panel discussions, and events invite a closer connection between artists and the public, creating an environment where engagement with art feels direct and personal.

At its core, Andra Norris Gallery is committed to presenting work that resonates on both an aesthetic and emotional level. It is a place where seasoned collectors and those new to contemporary art can spend time, ask questions, and discover work that stays with them.

Website: https://andranorrisgallery.com
Instagram: @andranorrisgallery