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The 73rd annual Brush and Palette exhibition will feature artwork by amateur, emerging, and professional artists. The juror for this exhibition is Ajay Gustafson.

Gustafson’s current body of work brings together patterned surfaces and delicately painted objects and figures. There is a fusion between the patterned background and translucent glazing techniques. She has a broad range of technical expertise with a variety of painting styles. Gustafson draws inspiration from her own family, the duality of femininity and masculinity, and the simplicity of still life forms.

Gustafson utilizes a reduced color palette and brings objects into the foreground with thicker applications of paint. Subtle translucent glazes help the objects to stand off the flat surface of textured backgrounds. The suggestion of three-dimensionality is further achieved through precisely formed shadows cascading across the painting's focal point or implying a depth of space residing in the background. There is a juxtaposition with the flatness of the background and the dimensionality of forms in the foreground. This clash of classical and contemporary techniques brings together a broad range of artistic styles indicative of the kinds of artistic fusions used by artists working today.