Throughout March the Council of the Arts will have “Women’s Work: A Celebration of Poetry & Visual Art” on display at the Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery. As Women’s History Month, March provides the perfect canvas for this exhibit where six different female artists display their creations, each illustrating their passions and journeys in life.

Once visiting the exhibit, the works that stick out are rich in color and textures. All the artists utilize a wide color palette and work with varying textures to get their story and meaning across to the viewer. Using many shadow boxes, Deborah Singletary builds household scenes with deep and intricate detail. Her piece entitled “Hothouse Rose and the Handyman” features a three-dimensional scene of a handyman presenting a bill to Rose through a doorway. Another piece of Singletary’s entitled “Lavishing Mother” is a sculpture of a woman wearing a patched skirt. From the deep colors of her clothes to the expression on her face and the stars at the end of her hair, she appears to be deep in a spiritual dance. Singletary’s work possesses a gospel quality to them, bringing to mind African-American spirituals.

Following in this musical path is eDeRuth’s aluminum sheets. Using a nail and hammer, she created portraits of men and women adorned with star-like and sun designs and accented with long beaded earrings. One can imagine how beautiful such a piece would be if placed in front of a window, allowing light to shine through the holes. On top of this, rain pattering on top of an aluminum roof can almost be heard, hearkening back to eDeRuth’s childhood. With almost a hieroglyphic quality, her artwork appears simplistic, but when one truly focuses, it is realized how much time and energy must go into creating such images.

Stephanie Altston-Nero’s “Shrine to Harriet Tubman” utilizes almost every medium to portray just how influential Harriet Tubman is in Nero’s life. Through repetition of pictures and collaging of mediums, her work brings to mind the work of street artists who use similar artistic expression to get their message across. Her work, however, is much more interactive and haunting. Spiritual in its presentation, it seems to draw inspiration from the Mexican Dia de los Muertos.

Nero, eDeRuth, and Singletary are not the only ones who drew on their past for their artwork. Daphne Carter McKnight incorporated a poem into a burlap and flower presentation. Called “My Mother’s Flower,” the poem speaks of her mother’s influence on her upbringing and outlook on life, paying homage to her mother and highlighting that she is her mother’s flower.

Creating mosaics and clay paintings, Judith Weber draws on colors and the interaction between them and their medium. Her work entitled “Strings of My Heart” uses clay tiles to create a mosaic of string instruments accented by broken orange, red, green, and blue tiles. The warm colors complement the instruments and border, with the green and blue tiles creating an aura for the instruments.

Seeming completely different from the rest of the exhibit is Barbara Hyde Haber’s photography. While she does use multiple mediums, she embraces the rich colors and textures featured throughout the rest of the works. Her photograph #4 shows frozen waves with glinting drops of water falling. The image is sharp and calls one back to nature, a message that the other artists also embody in their work.

Staying at the Brother Kenneth Chapman Gallery through April 4, Women’s Work is a must-see for any non-conventional artist. The six women featured branch outside of the typical boundaries laid out for artwork and show what can happen when textures and dimensions are combined to call one back to his or her own personal roots. There will be a “Meet the Artists Gallery Tour” on Thursday, March 29 at 6:30 p.m. for those interested in meeting the women behind the artwork.