STOWE: "In Our Nature" features 11 artists at Comfort Farm

by Bunny Harvey

Don Ross

In Our Nature is a fine art exhibit in a classic Vermont barn gallery, curated by Gunnel Clarke and Idoline Duke, and featuring these artists: Tom Cullins (watercolors), Bunny Harvey (oil landscapes), Sky Hoyt (acrylic still life), Henry Isaacs (oil landscapes), Idoline Duke (watercolor), Jane Parkes (sculpture and monoprints), Don Ross (photography), Joe Salerno (oil landscapes), Jim Sardonis (sculpture), Katy Schneider (oil still life), Sharon Wandel (bronze sculpture).

Opening Reception: 
Friday, September 14, 6 to 9 pm
Exhibit continues through October 14, 2012
Comfort Farm
Stowe, Vermont (directions below)
Gallery Hours: 12 noon to 5:30 pm. Closed Tuesdays

In Our Nature features local and regional artists who are immersed in - and inspired by - our natural world. The restored sheep-barn gallery at Comfort Farm, with its huge barn doors opening to high-grass meadows, is the ideal setting to feature these artists, enhancing and celebrating their work — and nature itself.

by KatySchneider

Nature, as we all know, has inspired art forever. But today, as fewer and fewer of us have the privilege of connecting with nature and as we witness the disappearance of wild places at such alarming rates, curators Gunnel Clarke and Idoline Duke believe we need this art more than ever. Current art trends are veering away from nature, as high-tech media and modern themes dominate our lives and, therefore, our imaginations. But Clarke and Duke make the case that nature remains the central theme of art (and life, really) and that these artists and their work deserve wide recognition.

As the name, "In Our Nature", suggests, nature is often very personal. We all have our own relationship to it. And the natural world that we know is not always pristine. With that in mind, In Our Nature has gathered a group of artists with singular perspectives on the natural world, influenced by unique life experiences, and using a variety of mediums and styles.

by Jane Parkes

The resulting show is visually stunning, emotionally accessible, interesting, and perhaps most importantly-in the era of doom and gloom about the environment-surprisingly optimistic.

Comfort Farm
2313 West Hill Rd.
Stowe, Vermont
Gallery Hours: noon to 5:30, closed Tuesdays

Directions to Comfort Farm:
I-89 North to exit 10 (Waterbury/Stowe).
Off the ramp, turn right onto Route 100.
Proceed through the Main Street in Stowe on 100.
TURN LEFT onto West Hill Road at Shaw's supermarket.
At the top of West Hill Road TURN RIGHT.
The first house ON THE LEFT is Comfort Farm.