Brooke A. Mattingly, who is Chase Mattingly's sister, submitted this photo on wood titled "Say Their Name," which was taken during a photo session a few months before he died.
According to the bio, "Path of Hope" by Jane Connor is inspired by "Vincent Van Gogh’s ability to escape from his troubled soul through nature and art."
Regarding her untitled painting, artist Laura McElhinney said when she was struggling with her addiction she didn't "pick up the brush one time." This is the first painting she did after going back and forth with the disease and finally gaining some clean time after going back out for almost two years. She said the piece "represents the development occurring inside of me and allowing my self to express again without the use of drugs."
Artist Laura McElhinney said she painted this "after I had gained some clean time and I was feeling happier as noted by the use of brighter colors. Although, there were still some struggles at hand demonstrated by the slight darkness in this painting, it seems to be overshadowed by the beauty of a happier scheme."
Brooke A. Mattingly, who is Chase Mattingly's sister, submitted this photo on wood titled "Say Their Name," which was taken during a photo session a few months before he died.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Phyllis E. Noble's glass artwork "I Am" shows a stick figure declaring existence.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
On Our Own of Calvert submitted a collective untitled piece.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
According to the bio, "Path of Hope" by Jane Connor is inspired by "Vincent Van Gogh’s ability to escape from his troubled soul through nature and art."
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Regarding her untitled painting, artist Laura McElhinney said when she was struggling with her addiction she didn't "pick up the brush one time." This is the first painting she did after going back and forth with the disease and finally gaining some clean time after going back out for almost two years. She said the piece "represents the development occurring inside of me and allowing my self to express again without the use of drugs."
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Artist Laura McElhinney said she painted this "after I had gained some clean time and I was feeling happier as noted by the use of brighter colors. Although, there were still some struggles at hand demonstrated by the slight darkness in this painting, it seems to be overshadowed by the beauty of a happier scheme."
SUBMITTED PHOTO
This piece was made by Chase Mattingly in elementary school and submitted by his mother, Sandy, which she titled "Stand Up!"
SUBMITTED PHOTO
This untitled photograph was taken by Ariane Odom.
Hope can take many forms and some of those forms can be found in the Calvert County Behavioral Health Department’s virtual exhibit called "Hope: An Exhibition."
“We are in prevention, so what are some of the things that have impacted people since COVID. And as far as the opioid crisis, what is it we can do to help people share their stories in another venue rather than just talking about it,” said Calvert County Health Department Behavioral Grant Programs Director Anita Ray, who added she would like to get “people talking and sharing and moving forward on whatever they’re experiencing.”
The exhibit consists of 17 submissions by seven artists in a variety of mediums.
Ray said she was blown away after viewing the submissions. “I think that people still have hope in the midst of a pandemic or in the midst of an opioid crisis or in the midst of maybe knowing or losing someone to COVID, people still have hope and are willing to put themselves out there," she said.
Sandy Mattingly, whose son, Chase, died at the age of 21 in 2018 due to fentanyl intoxication, submitted two of his pieces. The first, which he did in middle school, shows shadowy figures in moonlight while the second, which was an elementary school project, shows three cutout figures on a painted background, an image later used as the logo for Mattingly’s POSITIVEVIBES nonprofit.
“He was a talented kid,” said Mattingly, who titled the pieces.
Chase’s sister, Brooke, submitted a photo of him on a piece of wood. The image of Chase, who appears relaxed and in a pensive mood, was from a photo session taken a few months before his death.
A glass piece by Phyllis E. Noble titled “I am” shows a stick-figure-like person with arms spread on an orange, red and yellow background “declaring existence.”
Another piece, by artist Jane Connor titled “Path of Hope,” shows a heavily wooded forest opening up onto a lush meadow.
According to the artist’s bio, the acrylic piece was, “Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s ability to escape from his troubled soul through nature and art.”
On Our Own of Calvert did a collaborative effort of a tree, one side of which is leafy and lush, while the other is bare and barren.
"I think people have to realize that people that are in recovery or people who have experienced some type of disorder are just like me,” Ray said. “There’s no one that I know that has actively engaged in substance abuse when they grew up and said that’s what they’d like to do, so they’re just like me. And guess what it? It could be me.”
Ray is hoping for more submissions for the virtual exhibit, and that the gallery will eventually be shown at such places as museums and art galleries.
To submit artwork for the exhibit, email calvert.harmreducation@maryland.gov. For for more information or to view the exhibit, go to the program’s Instagram page at @calcobehavioral.
