PRESS RELEASE: 2012 Summer Members' Exhibit at the Chaffee Art Center in Rutland

Starting May 25, 2012 the Chaffee Art Center will be exhibiting artwork of Chaffee Juried Members in the 2012 Summer Members' Exhibit. The exhibit will be on view through July 7, 2012 and will have an opening reception on Saturday, June 2 from 4-7 PM. The reception will feature music by John Lyons, hors d'oeuvres and wine. Alongside the artwork of Chaffee Juried Members will be the Vermont Pastel Society's Annual Juried Show. The show is juried by Robert Carsten, and features a selection of artwork from the 100 members of the Pastel Society.

Image: Renee Warren Mendon Mt. Orchard

PRESS RELEASE: Elissa Campbell Open Studio in Montpelier

Elissa Campbell of Blue Roof Designs will show her handmade books during Vermont's Open Studio Tour on May 26th and 27th. From 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., come for a tour of the studio, demonstrations, & savings up to 50% off seconds and discontinued styles. Bookbinding supplies will also be available for purchase.

Blue Roof Designs is located at 846 Gallison Hill Road in Montpelier, VT. For more information, please visit www.blueroofdesigns.com/OSWSpring2012 or call (802) 229-1342.

Image: Key Lime MonoJournal

PRESS RELEASE: International Artists in Residence at Vermont Carving Studio in West Rutland

Greek sculptor Leonidas Chalepas will create new work  at the Carving Studio and Sculpture Center as Artist in Residence for the 2012 workshop season. Mr. Chalepas has Bachelor's degrees from the Athens School of Fine Arts (Sculpture) and the National Technical University of Athens (Architecture). He is currently based in Brooklyn, New York, following MFA studies at Pratt Institute on a Fulbright scholarship. He is interested in working at the Studio this summer because our "place and mission give an excellent opportunity for a focused debate, thought and creation of sculpture."

 Leonidas says, "My work is an everyday exploration." The artist works intuitively, often incorporating found materials and color in his mixed media (metal, wood, plastic, stone etc.) creations, which you can see on the artist’s website.


The Carving Studio and Sculpture Center continues its relationship with SIAS University (Henan Province, China, since 2008) by hosting 2012 Intern Ivy (Hao Li) of ZhengZhou.

"The desert means arid climate and scorching heat.
Any plants in the desert represent vitality and refreshment.
The blue color can bring the cool and calmness to the audience."
-Hao Li

Images: Leonidas Chalepas, Archaic-antiCyclops, marble, 2008, work by Hao entitled Haoli Desert.

PRESS RELEASE: Henry Swayze at Tunbridge Public Library

Celebrating Nature All Around Us, a show by Tunbridge, Vt., photographer Henry Swayze, is to be on display at the Tunbridge Public Library from June 1 to August 11, 2012. An opening reception will be held on Friday, June 1, from 7-9 p.m. A short gallery talk will be held at 8 p.m. The public is invited. The library is located on Route 110 in Tunbridge village, across from the Post Office, about five miles north of Route 14. The library’s hours are Monday and Wednesday, 3-8 p.m., Thursday and Friday, 3-6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Call librarian Jean Wolfe at 802-889-9404 for more information.

Artist's Statement:

"This is a collection of more than 50 images mostly from Vermont and many from Tunbridge. Many are grouped in triptychs. The images are nearly all color and range in size from 5x7 inches to 20 X 30 inches. These are focused on our landscape and natural surroundings. I hope this collection will encourage each of us to generate a habit of seeing our environment as we go about our lives. We live in a beautiful world.

Technical data: Photographs mostly taken since 2009 with a Sony 14 MP A350 digital single lens reflex using two lenses, a Minolta 50mm f1.7 lens and a Minolta “beer can” 70-210mm f4 zoom lens. I chose this camera because I like the way the old “A” mount Minolta lenses rendered color and how they treated the out-of-focus part of the image."

Bio:

"I started making pictures when I was very young. My father and to some extent my mother made photographs before me. All the family learned to develop and print our own black and white photos with the windowless front hall of our New York City apartment becoming a temporary blackout zone for developing and printing. By the time I was 13, I had converted my very small bedroom into a full time darkroom with counters built above my bed and the window permanently sealed. In my early 20s, I studied briefly with Paul Caponigro. He told me to just go for it and gave me a wonderful film and developer combination to work with. Once I had moved to our Tunbridge farm and started a family, photography went on hold and it is only recently in my late 60s and early 70s that I have become active again. I still love the images that come from working on medium format single emulsion films developed in compensating developers and printed on silver emulsion paper, but digital keeps me out of the darkroom and gives me immediate feedback with which to improve my work."

PRESS RELEASE: Kevin Macneil Brown at Christ Episcopal, Montpelier

Kevin Macneil Brown will exhibit a selection of paintings in watercolor and acrylic at the Christ Episcopal Foyer in the Parish House, Montpelier, Vermont, from June 8 through the end of the month.   An opening reception will be held during Montpelier Art Walk, Friday, June 8, from 5 – 7:30 PM, with the artist presenting original music/ sound art to accompany the images.
 

Kevin Macneil Brown makes art inspired by the revelations and mysteries of shorelines and mountains in New England light. “I spend a lot of time outdoors in nature, in motion and meditation,” Brown says, “and the layers of the landscape, of water and landforms, of a perceived past and present, come alive with something that I just need to explore and convey.”

In particular, the changing waters and mountainous horizons of Lake Champlain offer a deep connection and communion, and Brown engages with those energies in visual art, writing, and musical composition.

   

The exhibit space will be open Mondays through Thursdays, 10-5. For more information, please contact the artist at:  liminaleditions@gmail.com

Images: Dawn Sky and Mountains, watercolor on paper; Lake Champlain,April Light, watercolor on paper

PRESS RELEASE: Ted Zilius at Gallery at River Arts in Morrisville

The Gallery at River Arts is pleased to present a retrospective of paintings and collage by Ted Zilius at the River Arts Center in Morrisville from, June 14 - August 10.   An opening reception will be held on June 14, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m. 

The retrospective exhibit, encompassing seventy years of work, reveals Zilius' development as an artist.  The exhibit,  begins with childhood drawings, moves into early realist painting, and finishes up with his distinctive collage/paintings, many done during his various sessions at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, Vermont.

Born Tadas Zilevicius in 1938, he spent his childhood in the Lithuanian countryside during World War II.  His early drawings reflect this experience, and include soldiers on horseback, airplanes dropping bombs, farmhouses, and trees.  His family fled the country when he was five, living in the Displaced Persons Camps in Germany until they arrived in America in 1949.  After serving in the U.S. Navy, Zilius studied under Ad Reinhart at Brooklyn College, attended the Pratt Institute of Art, and studied design with Milton Glaser and Henry Wolf at the School of Visual Arts.  Ted's interests in design led him to work in the design office of Charles and Ray Eames, though his painting continued, inspired by the work of Willem DeKooning and Franz Kline.  Zilius' art soon took another turn, influenced by the work of Frank Stella, Morris Louis, Helen Frankenthaler, the Op Art movement and Mark Rothko, and set him on a course towards minimal, hard-edge painting.

Zilius moved to Vermont in 1971, taking a hiatus of 15 years to homestead, raise his two children, and write about ecological and environmental issues.  Ted continued designing, building houses and creating one of a kind furniture and cabinets, which he continues to work on today.  After a brief partnership designing and building "art furniture", which was shown in Baltimore at the American Crafts Council annual exhibit, Ted went to the Vermont Studio Center in the mid '80's.  Here, he became interested in doing art again, revisiting the Vermont Studio Center numerous times over the years to develop his own collage/painting style. In Ted’s recent work, he has come full circle, to once again draw cowboys and horses.

The Gallery at River Arts is located at the River Arts Center, 74 Pleasant Street in Morrisville, VT.  Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 10-2.  For off hours, please call River Arts: 802-888-1261.  Admission is free. For more information, call or visit their website at www.riverartsvt.org.

PRESS RELEASE: Local Artist Show at Village Frame Shoppe & Gallery in St. Albans

The Village Frame Shoppe and Gallery presents their Local Artist Show which opens on May 8, 2012 and features the art of Meta Strick, Tinka Theresa Martell, and Jill Snapp. Reception: Friday May 18, 2011 6:00PM-8:00PM; Refreshments will be served and the reception is open to the public.The exhibit runs from May 8, 2012 through Thursday June 7, 2012.

Meta Strick (image at left) is a lifelong artist with a Fine Arts Bachelor Degree from Carnegie Mellon University and 25 years teaching experience at Community College of Vermont. She is noted for her mixed media Art Dolls, wall hangings, and acrylic paintings which are produced with a number of mixed materials from buttons, to string, sand, wire and many other materials.

Tinka Theresa Martell (image at right), an abstract artist from Fairfax Vermont works with several media, wood, paper, canvas, she also uses many recycled and other found objects. Mostly she enjoys working with small scale collage, especially playing with copper leaf and ink. Her large scale works are often three dimensional, and her medium varies.She incorporates bold colors, using black to define her shapes she creates large asymmetrical compositions, adding hammered copper plate to imply a solid feeling and blends in soft muted colors till the right color arrives.

Artist Jill Snapp (image at left) was born in St. Albans, and grew up in Florida  and  Virginia.  She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree  in 1984 and her Master of Fine Art Degree  in 1991.  She taught in the theatre and arts deparment at  Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Jill was also the scenic artist for the Virginia Opera, Virginia State an Virginia Scenic. She is now the stage artist for the Society of the Performing Arts (SASPA) here in St. Albans. Jill usually paints on a large scale, depicting colorful landscapes and barns. She has had numerous exhibitions in Virginia and Massachusetts. She is currently employed with Northwest Counseling and Support Services in St. Albans.

Village Frame Shoppe and Gallery is located at 72 North Main Street in St. Albans, Vermont.

PRESS RELEASE: Jacobie Z at BLCARTGRP Gallery in Chester

After a slow Spring season in Southern Vermont, BLCARTGRP Gallery in Chester is gearing up for an exciting Summer of fine art shows as well as performance art events which will be bringing a cast and crew together which artist Bryce LeVan Cushing has worked with for many years.

The first in a series of shows to kick off the high season is titled Modern Mayhem, featuring the textural encaustic paintings of Putney, Vermont based artist Jacobie Z. Mr Z uses figures drawn and painted from life and incorporates them into a setting of mixed media using color, tone and rhythm.  The materials he uses include cut paper, acrylic inks and paint, photographic prints and encaustic paint.

Jacobie and LeVan Cushing have collaborated on sculpture, fine art shows, and video performance art for the past 5 years. It is an honor to have the work of Jacobie Z on display now at BLCARTGRP Gallery. The show will be up until June 15, 2012.

As part of the opening for Modern Mahem, Jacobie Z will be painting live in the space on May 26th from 2-5:00 PM.  His encaustic style of mix media painting is quite unique and the public will be able to view the heated wax process and application to canvas.

Modern Mahem will also feature a live taping of Cushing’s comedy video performance art series Moondoggie Isreal.  Several NYC and Philadelphia based performance artists are scheduled to appear in this top secret fashion explosion.  Open call to all area musicians, comedians and trouble makers.  There is a fifty dollar cash prize for best costume.   The assembled cast will write a short script, rehearse the numbers, perform the piece, shoot the video and upload to the internet all in the same night.

For more information regarding the paintings of Jacobie Z please call 802-451-6655.  To find out more about Modern Mayhem performance art party please call 802-289-1663 or visit www.brycelevancushing.com  This is an Adult Only Event from 7-9 PM.  The event takes place at 295 Main Street in Chester, Vermont.  The entrance to the gallery and parking is in the rear of the building.  BLCARTGRP Gallery is open Wednesday thru Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM.

Image: My Parents

PRESS RELEASE: Vintage Vermont at Festival Gallery in Waitsfield

The Festival Gallery in Waitsfield, Vermont presents Vintage Vermont, a show of classic Vermont landscapes from antique glass plate photographic negatives.

The images, dating between 1890 – 1920, represent the foundation of the agrarian culture that still remains strong here in Vermont.  They show a glimpse of life just before the modernization of our society and depict a romantic time in Vermont’s history.  Six men on a railroad trestle, a baby sitting in a field, a snow covered village complete with a sleigh, or a family climbing into their horse and buggy – all of these images represent real people, real places and a real time in our past.

Neil Dixon, of Yankee Imaging, is a trained archaeologist who works in the historic preservation field.  Over time, he has collected old glass plates that he has found during his travels.  Though he owns over 350 plates, he has only just begun to print them.  Photographs belong to the photographer, and Dixon was reluctant to  reproduce the images as he did not “own” them.  “I decided I had a responsibility to reproduce and display this shared cultural heritage,” said Dixon.  “I am sensitive to the ownership of the images, but felt it was important to make them available for the next century.”

Of the 350 glass plates Dixon owns, he has only printed 11 so far, as the process is complicated and expensive.  By digitizing them for enlargement, he has been able to restore the images back to their original quality.  Choosing which images to print has not been easy.  Dixon shared that “It is a gut reaction to a negative that leads me to print it.”  All eleven images are on display at the Gallery.

Though Dixon has done some detective work to determine where the photos were taken in Vermont, a few of the plates had clues.  Alma with a Gun is a simple title for a mysterious photograph of a young woman, a small owl and a gun.  Why was the picture taken?  Who is Alma?  And why is she holding an owl?  The photo draws you in and leaves you with more questions!

Vintage Vermont runs through June 12 at the Festival Gallery.  For the remainder of June and July the Gallery will host the photography of Henry Erickson.   The Festival Gallery is located at #2 Village Square, next to the Tempest Book Store.  For more information call 802-496-6682 or go to www.vermontartfest.com.

PRESS RELEASE: The Artist Collaborative at SEABA Gallery in Burlington

The Artist Collaborative is made up of 10 Northern Vermont public k-12 art teachers who have come together in bi-monthly meetings to support each other through the challenges of creating art while teaching art. “We all spend our days doing art with young artists, but find it difficult to call ourselves artists. For many of us, commitments to our jobs, our communities, and our families leave us very little time to focus on our own creative process. Through our collaborative group, we support each other in prioritizing and celebrating our own art.”

They will be showing at the SEABA Gallery during the month of June.  Artist Opening Reception, June 1, 5:30 – 8:00 PM.  For more information contact director@seaba.com or 802 859-9222.

PRESS RELEASE: Carol E.S. MacDonald at VCAM/RETN in Burlington

The South End Art & Business Association (SEABA) is pleased to announce a major mid-career retrospective featuring the work of Carol E.S. MacDonald. Carol MacDonald has been an art activist and major supporter of the visual arts in Vermont for quite some time.  She has served on the boards of the Vermont Women’s Caucus for Art, the National Women’s Caucus for Art, and in 1986 she helped found Art’s Alive, a nonprofit organization that promotes the work of Vermont-based visual artists through an annual festival, and it is still active today.  She also served as its Director for a number of years.  Starting her career as a painter and then becoming best known as a printmaker, her creations span many media and genera. The work will be on exhibition at VCAM/RETN, 208 Flynn Avenue, Suite 2 G, from June 1 – August 31.  Artist Opening Reception, June 1, 5:30 – 8:00 PM.  For more information contact director@seaba.com or 802 859-9222.

Image: Carol MacDonald Knit-Structure

PRESS RELEASE: Winners Announced at Bryn Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville

Bryan Memorial Gallery announces that James Coe of Hannacroix, NY won its coveted Alden Bryan Medal for Best in Show, for its 2012 Land and Light and Water and Air exhibition.  The awards were juried by David Schutz, Curator of the State of Vermont, with Coe's oil painting September Shoreline (left) winning from an original field of 300 paintings.  Ninety-five paintings were selected for the current exhibit.  Coe won a gold medal and a cash award.

Cash awards were also awarded to Tom Nicholas of Rockport, MA for his oil painting Late Winter Dusk; Third Place was awarded to Elizabeth Nelson of West Glover (below) for her acrylic painting Ocean Light II; and the First Honorable Mention recipient was Gabriel Tempesta of Craftsbury, VT for his milk paint painting  Old Birch on Elmore Mountain.

Additional honorable mention awards went to Mary S. Martin of Dunham, Quebec, Canada for her oil painting Morning on the Lamoille; Susan Bull Riley of Montpelier, VT for her oil painting Coastal Calm; Robert Wiefewick of Freeport Maine for his watercolor Geese Flying, and Craig Pursley of Bath, New Hampshire for his oil painting Sunburst on the Haverhill

The cash awards for Land and Light and Water and Air are made possible by the Mary and Alden Bryan Art Fund of the Vermont Community Foundation.  The entries are submitted by artists from all over the US and Canada, although the subject matter must be New England landscape painting. 

Land and Light and Water and Air is on exhibit at Bryan Memorial Gallery through July 8, 2012.  The gallery is open Thursday - Sunday, 11 - 4, and by advance appointment at any time.  Bryan Memorial Gallery is located at 180 Main Street, Jeffersonville, Vermont, 802-644-5100, www.bryangallery.org. 

REVIEW: Street Level - Galen Cheney at BCA, Burlington

Galen Cheney, Street Fair, 2011, mixed media on birch panel

review by Laura Di Piazza

Galen Cheney detours us from any expected niceties and motors us to the gritty and raw levels of the streets, be they our internal, external, peaceful and/or chaotic spaces. Cheney’s current exhibit Street Level at BCA in Burlington, Vermont, includes the multi-layered, graffiti style abstract pathways ofStreet Fair, which can be reminiscent of NYC street art in the 1970’s and 80’s.

Born in Los Angeles but showing her New England roots through the use of birch panels, Cheney separates and positions these panels in Cross Town and Lariat (lasso type rope) that reveal the disconnections and flow of a city’s accessibility for or from it’s inhabitants. One city and countless ways to move around it or get stuck within it. Cheney inscribes ancient letterforms in urban settings and includes 19^th and early 20^th century calligraphic lettering, which in some places pop out or hide out among the high-energy spaces of the paintings.

Galen Cheney, Calligraffiti 1, 2 & 3, 2012, oil on birch panels

The brilliant colors and labyrinth-style paths, the eyes try to follow, express the vibrancy of a highly alert state. If one is sleeping will they fall off the Dr. Seuss-like striped highways?
In the Calligraffiti paintings there’s interconnectivity among the tubular shapes that do not appear to be constrictive. In them Cheney develops her own curvaceous alphabet.


The artist describes her work as having its “own energy and direction almost apart from [herself]”. When viewing the external scenes, and possibly internal ever-negotiating psyche in pieces such as Periscope,Street Level journeys us out of any lazy-boy cushioned bubble we may live in when we walk through it.

Galen Cheney is a Vermont-based artist. Street Level is on exhibit at BCA until June 23^rd. Cheney is currently co-curating Natural Constructed Spaces at The Painting Center in New York City.

Galen Cheney, Periscope, 2012, oil on birch panel

PRESS RELEASE: Sweet at Studio Place Arts (SPA) in Barre

“Sweet dreams” is a common bedtime wish that is the spirit behind the main floor show at Studio Place Arts (SPA). Part Willy Wonka factory tour and part bakery case, the Sweet! art exhibit reveals the serious and amusing relationships that artists and others have with sweet treats.

Sweet! includes 26 artists, from Vermont primarily but also from New York and the Midwest. Their media choices range from the traditional such as graphite, watercolors, and oils, to the far less traditional: bright furry fabric, strawberry-flavored Twizzlers, melted Gummy bears and an old door. Taken together, the show has an imaginative streak that, when fully digested, leaves viewers with much more than sugary, throbbing numbness.

Spaulding High School art instructor, Mary Reardon, who took up a temporary studio residency at SPA for the winter season to focus on a new body of work, demonstrates her facile use of pencil tones by capturing the rippled chocolate, soft cream fillings, and dappled cake surfaces of Hostess Ring Dings, Twinkies, and Cupcakes. In gray pencil tones, these luscious and often trivialized treats emerge as serious portraits.

A large expanse of the back wall is occupied by 10 pastel-toned, watercolor paintings of candies by Alan Alejo of Burlington.  These affectionately rendered, small paintings are presented behind glass with silver frames, and they conjure memories of banks of glass candy cases in neighborhood shops that specialized in sweets and wide smiles.  Rather surprisingly, the paintings of paper-wrapped candies like the Nut Zippers Squirrel and Mary Mary Jane Jane seem just as seductive as the “naked” Jelly Belly and Lifesaver images.

Food in motion is featured prominently in the gallery.  Spiraling peppermint hard candies are dynamically painted in Peppermint Racetrack by Jessica Nissen of Middlebury.  There are rainbow colored Gummy bears floating, surreally, against a dark black sky, painted by Suzy Kopf of Brooklyn.  A fork propelled by a large rocket ship is aimed at a dollop of whipped cream on a cherry pie slice in Stellar Pie, by Jonathan Schnapp of Rochester.  From his Dropped Food Series, Robert Brunelle, Jr., ofJericho, presents a painting of a chocolate layer cake tumbling from its plate, with a lighted candle intact.

A large sculpture of carved, wooden doughnuts, created by art student Roxanne Burton, You Are What You Sweet, looks like a big, rogue wave rising from the platter with sugar-coated surf.  Comically, Nancy Drew is attempting to solve mysteries involving fluffy meringue topped, chocolate pie (Lethal Layers) and a layer cake dredged with toasted almonds (Died and Went to Heaven) in Burlington artist Jude Bond’s Nancy Drew and the Baked Goods series.

A gigantic layer cake painted on the surface of a wooden door by Lisa Lillibridge, Burlington, possibly best captures the reasons behind our passion for sweets.  Her large-scale painting, I Made It For You, is a towering treatise to the deep emotional connections that many of us have in our memories of sweeter times.

Images: Partial installation shot
Watercolor paintings of candies by Alan Alejo

PRESS RELEASE: Art thefts motivate benefit for sculptor

A rash of art thefts occurred in central west Vermont between February 29 and March 20th. The first hit was the Ilsley Library, where a piece by Kerry Furlani was stolen from her Words to Stone exhibit in the library lobby. These heavy stone sculptures were sprinkled throughout the library rooms, as if to be found like Easter eggs. Attachment,  the piece that was stolen, was the only piece in the show that did not incorporate words, a 17” x12” bas relief of a mother and child. It had been on a shelf behind the magazine rack in the library, before it went missing. A reward for information leading to the recovery of the piece was posted in the Addison Independent by David Clark, the library’s director. The piece is valued at $1,200

On March 17 two paintings disappeared from the Chaffee Art Center, in Rutland, as reported by the Rutland Herald. On March 23 a sculpture was also discovered missing. The sculpture and the paintings were returned with a note of apology from the person who stole the artwork on March 28th. The third venue victimized was Artisans Gallery in Waitsfield. More than a few pieces were stolen there between March 12 and 15. These have not been returned. All this was reported in the Rutland Herald as well.

That’s enough to call a “rash of art thefts” but there has been one more recently. On March 20 two small paintings, a landscape and a still life valued at a combined total of $650 were stolen from the Edgewater Gallery on Mill Street in Middlebury.

These events have motivated members of the Middlebury community and the arts community to come forward in support of our artists and our public spaces. To this end a benefit for Kerry Furlani is scheduled for Friday, June 8, from 5-7 p.m. at the Ilsley Library to coincide with the Middlebury Art Walk. The art walk happens every second Friday of the month, May 11 - October 12 . The public is invited to not only come out and enjoy what local artists and our downtown has to offer during the seasons art walks but to also come out in support of Kerry Furlani, and all the people and places that make our community rich, on June 8 at the library.

There will be a silent auction of featuring donated items by local businesses and artists. The money raised will go to Kerry Furlani to help pay for the stolen piece. Any extra funds will go to the library and to create an organization to support artists and community rebuilding.

Something is wrong when trust that things won’t be stolen in the library, or that art won’t be stolen off a gallery wall is unrealistic. This fundraising benefit is an effort by people who care to make things better. There will be information available about how to help prevent such thefts from happening as well.

To show our thanks to participants who come to this benefit and make it a success we are offering a free raffle ticket to the first thirty bidders. 

For artists who donate artwork half of the money that your item brings in is returned to you. If you are an artist or a business and would like to donate Please contact the benefit organizer  Alice Eckles at aeckles@hotmail.com or call 802-310-9364. Remember: June 8, 5-7 pm, at the Ilsley Library, light refreshments will be served.

Image: Kerry O. Furlani, Butterfly You Make Me Cry, slate-quartzite, Poultney, VT, 11 3/4 x 2 1/2"

PRESS RELEASE: Stephanie Holman Thwaites at Dostie Brothers Frame Shop in Burlington

Dostie Brothers Frame Shop would like to invite you to our First Friday Art Walk opening reception this Friday from 5pm-8pm.  This month’s featured artist is Stephanie Holman Thwaites.

Stephanie's beautiful work can be viewed at the Frame Shop all month, as well as at:  8ofhearts.com.  We hope to see you there.

PRESS RELEASE: Joe Tucker at Equinox Village in Manchester Center

Equinox Village and the Greater Manchester Arts Council are pleased to host an exhibit of Joe Tucker’s work in May. The show is called Paradise. A Gallery Opening Event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 17 at Equinox Village in Manchester Center. Kindly R.S.V.P. to (802) 362-4061 by Thursday, May 10. The show will be on display 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. daily from Friday, May 18 until Monday, June 11, 2012.

Joe Tucker once dreamed of being a toy designer and then in his thirties his dream changed— he wanted a career in the arts.  Determined, he obtained an art education certification through the School of Visual Arts in New York City and has been teaching art and creating art ever since.  Joe lives with his family in Dorset, Vermont and teaches art in New York City Schools.

 “I spend eight hours a week on the thru-way,” Tucker quips. “It was a personal search,” he says of his diverse resume. Perhaps that’s what his former work, his current artistic work, and even the joy he finds in teaching have in common: the search, the reach, the expansion, and—ultimately— the discovery.

The first thing that visitors to the gallery will notice is that much of Tucker’s work is abstract. Most striking among his pieces are bright watercolors with blocks or islands of color. “My current approach to making art encompasses a primal understanding of color and the creative process as well as a desire to inform, expand, and remind the viewer of additional artistic possibilities,” Tucker says.

Tucker has pledged to donate 10 percent of proceeds of sales of his artwork during the exhibit to the BOMA project . The project was started by Vermont Neighbor Kathleen Colson. “The project's mission is to improve the ability of women in Africa to earn their own income,” Tucker says.

PRESS RELEASE: Jacob Martin at Speaking Volumes, Burlington

Jacob Martin will be hanging work at the Speaking Volumes record & book shop on Pine St. In Burlington, Vt. On display from May 4th to the 28th, there will also be a reception of sorts on May 4th at around 5pm, though Jacob will be in the building from as early as 3pm (and possibly playing something resembling music). The show showcases 10 prints of digital works from Jacob's current portfolio. Cartoons, Old Videogames and massive piles of cheap retro yardsale junk, as well as a quiet, reserved, somewhat meditative day to day life, inspire the calm, cluttered, and cartooned feel of Jacob's work.

Who - Jacob Martin

What - Illustration Portfolio Gallery Show

Where - Speaking Volumes, 377 Pine St. Burlington VT (802) 540-0107

When - May 4th to May 28th

PRESS RELEASE: Vanessa Compton Open Studio in Greensboro

Artist Vanessa Compton will be participating in the 20th annual Vermont Open Studio Tour on the weekend of May 26th and 27th. Her Greensboro studio, Krinshaw Studios, is located at 102 Cook Hill Road and will be open to the public both days from 10 AM to 5 PM.

Works on display will include large original collages, archival giclee prints, ceramic sculpture, mobiles and ornaments, illustrated works, handmade greeting cards and limited edition clothing. The studio is located in Vermont’s remote Northeast Kingdom, overlooking beautiful Caspian Lake.

Open Studio Weekend is an award-winning event, named among the Top 10 by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce. For more information, please visit www.KrinshawStudios.com,  www.VermontCrafts.com or call (802) 223-3380.


Image: Tunnel Vision mixed-media collage, 8.5x11" 

PRESS RELEASE: Corrina Thurston at Tulsi Tea Room, Montpelier

SOLO ART SHOWING AT TULSI TEA ROOM, MONTPELIER

Corrina Thurston, 22, has been creating art for just over two years following the diagnosis of a chronic illness. She was forced to medically withdraw from college after just one semester and still too ill to hold employment or go back to school.

She currently has a solo display at the Tulsi Tea Room in Montpelier, exhibiting a selection of her artwork. This exhibit presents Corrina’s artwork to the public in a comfortable environment, whether you are stopping in for tea and pastries, or buying medicinal herbs and tinctures. The atmosphere is great, and the people are friendly. Each piece of art will be for sale and orders are welcomed from her website.

When looking at Corrina’s pieces, most people assume that they have been done with paint, when in fact, all of the pieces shown in this exhibit are completed with 100% Colored Pencil. Eventually she hopes to help make colored pencil a better-known medium across the nation.

The display will be up through June 14^th. 

PRESS RELEASE: MFA Thesis Exhibit at SEABA Center in Burlington

Emergence
MFA Thesis Exhibit: An Exploration of Emergent Media

May 4 - 25 at 

The SEABA Center
404 Pine Street
Burlington, VT 05401

Reception: First Friday Art Walk, Friday May 4th from 5-8pm

Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 9-5pm and Saturdays when posted

The inaugural class of Champlain College's Master of Fine Arts in Emergent Media Program present elements of their Thesis work. Ten projects explore the breadth and depth of digital media in contemporary creative practice.

Image: K Murakami, A Line in Motion

PRESS RELEASE: Lyna Lou Nordstrom at VCAM/RETN Art Space in Burlington

The South End Arts + Business Association (SEABA) is pleased to announce the opening reception of Lyna Lou, A Life in Printmaking, this Friday, May 4 from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. This exhibition is part of the SEABA Curatorial Art Program. It will be available for viewing between now and  May 27, from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Lyna Lou Nordstrom has been a prolific and creative printmaker, particularly in regards to monotypes and monoprints since the late 1970's. This exhibit provides examples of her work from both the early days and the recent past, and includes over 60 examples for review. 

VCAM/RETN Art Space is located at 208 Flynn Avenue, #2-G (building behind FLYNNDOG, lakeside loading ramp, last door), Burlington, VT 05401, (802) 651-9692

Image: Raging River II

PRESS RELEASE: Group Exhibit at BigTown Gallery in Rochester

BigTown Gallery is pleased to present a new Exhibition, Artist Community: Rhode Island. The exhibition will take place May 2 – June 10, 2012. The opening reception will be held on Saturday, May 5, 5–7pm.

Artist Community: Rhode Island presents the first in a series of mixed media group exhibitions examining through the work of selected gallery artists the extended network of relationships that define their creative communities. The associations and collaborations of the Providence artistic community have been particularly noteworthy, producing some of America's most influential artists.

The exhibition features work from:Stephan Brigidi, Harry Callahan, Dale Chihuly, Ruth Dealy.
Richard Fleischner, Malcolm Grear, Bunny Harvey, David Macaulay, Dieter Roth, Aaron Siskind, Hugh Townley, and John Udvardy.

Image: Ruth Dealy, Benches, 2011, acrylic on raw canvas, 72" x 72"

PRESS RELEASE: Third Annual Art of Creative Aging at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier

Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA) invites the public to the opening reception of the 2012 Art of Creative Aging on Thursday, May 3, 5:00 - 7:00 pm at the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier.  This is the third annual juried exhibit of older visual artists (70+) living in central Vermont. "We look at this as a way to celebrate creativity among older Vermonters," says Beth Stern, executive director of CVCOA. "Aging doesn't mean one becomes less creative. In fact, many people discover more complete expression of their creativity as they grow older."

The Art of Creative Aging will be on display May 3 - May 29 at the Kellogg- Hubbard Library.  Twenty-one artists are featured.  Among them are Ed Epstein and Elizabeth Warren of Montpelier, Aya Itagaki of Fairlee, Chuck Bohn and Helen Rabin of Marshfield, Theodora Danforth of Randolph Center, and Mark Markowitt and Vera Resnick of Warren.

All of the artwork is available for sale.   Artists are sharing a portion of the proceeds to benefit both CVCOA and the Library.  More importantly, the purpose of the exhibit is to raise awareness of the 35-year-old agency and, especially, of the talent and productivity of older Vermonters.  For more information, please contact Margaret Harmon at mharmon@cvcoa.org or 476-2681.

Central Vermont Council on Aging (CVCOA) supports elders in leading healthy, independent, meaningful and dignified lives in their homes and communities in 54 central Vermont towns.  Visit the CVCOA website at www.cvcoa.org or call the Senior Helpline at 1-800-642-5119.  CVCOA is located at 59 N. Main Street, Suite 200 in Barre; regional offices are located in Morrisville, Randolph, South Royalton, and Rochester.

Image: Aya Itagaki's (Fairlee), Sumi-ink/gansai Iris

PRESS RELEASE: Mary Rearden at Gallery II, VSC Johnson

Mary Rearden exhibition, Gallery II in the Wolf Kahn Barn at Vermont Studio Center in Johnson

Opening Reception: Saturday May 5th at 7pm

Artist's Statement:

Food has always held my interest as a subject because of its visual and emotional qualities.  Junk food is designed, manufactured and marketed to appeal to the senses and one’s desire to fill a void.  It is easy to vilify something as nutritionally empty as a Ring Ding, but it is impossible to deny its power to elicit nostalgia and delight.  

Drawn from observation, each Ring Ding is as unique as a face.  My drawings are small--I like how the tiny details invite the viewer to lean in to the work and really look at the glossy outer shell, the holey terrain of crumbs, and the mystifying poof of creamy center.  The graphite makes an image that is accurate like a black and white photograph and yet slightly hazy like an old memory.