Thursday at AIR

I got some additional information about this Thursday's reception at Artist in Residence. There are four featured artists. See below…

Harald Aksdal - Pen and Ink/Watercolor

Rebecca Bennett - Paintings, Drawings, Photography

Corliss Blakely - Oil Paintings/Giclee Prints

Toby Fulwiler - Wooden Bowls

Date: May 1, 2008

Time: 5:00-8:00 pm

Bring a friend! Located at 349 Main St., Enosburg Falls, VT

The Artist in Residence is a cooperative gallery located on Main Street in Enosburg Falls, VT. The gallery is open Wed-Sat. 10-5 and Sunday 12-5. (802)933-6403.

Featured Artist: Chepe Cuadra

Chepe's large-scale oil paintings of barns command the viewer's attention with his use of bold colors, bright skies, and heavy strokes. Several of Chepe's original works are currently on display at Staart. Get a preview here.

Chepe's bio:
Chepe Cuadra has been creating art for the past 30 years. He has studied art in Managua, Nicaragua, San Francisco, California, Barcelona, Spain,and Johnson, Vermont. In many of these places he has also displayed his art in shows. Chepe has a Bachelors Degree in Art from Johnson State College and is currently working towards a Master’s Degree in the same program. He now shows his art at the Artists in Residence gallery in Enosburg Falls and the Shelburne Art Center, and is a Member of the Saint Albans Artist’s guild. In his works has used many different media including oil, oil pastel, dry paste, print, ceramic, masks in paper mache’ and sculptures in wire mesh. He has a studio in Saint Albans city.

A reception for Corliss Blakely

Corliss is one of the featured artists at the Artist in Residence gallery in Enosburg this month with a reception this Thursday, May 1st from 5 too 8 pm.

Featured Artist: Leonis Sayfire

Leonis is a newcomer to the Vermont art scene, but it has always been her dream to pursue her creative aspirations. See more of Leonis's work at Staart here.

Leonis's bio:
Leonis Sayfire was born in Burlington Vermont while her parents were away from home for business from Long Island, New York. While attending Suffolk Community College she worked for the school newspaper as their events reporter while working towards a Liberal Studies degree. She took elective courses including 2D and 3D traditional art classes and photography. She followed her mother back to Vermont in 2001. Since then she has independantly studied various spiritual pholosophies, has completed the training of a Reiki Master and has been doing volunteer graphics work for unsigned musicians. She is also acting a small supporting role in an independant film to be shot in New York City this summer. She is working on building a web based photo-retouching business and would like to return to school to pursue a degree in secondary education. Leonis has been doing nature photography for many years and has just recently expanded her skill into the digital realm. She is also an abstract digital rendition artist, animator and writer.

New Work at Champlain Collections

Last night was the opening reception for three artists at Champlain Collections in St. Albans. Barbara Hamm, Louise Counos, and Faith Newton all have some beautiful work on display in the gallery. Barbara and Faith both work in watercolor and Louise concentrates mostly on pastels. It's worth a visit!

Maple Fest Displays

Middle school students in the Open Doors after-school art program combined their love of art and maple syrup when they artfully painted a dozen sap buckets in time for the Maple Festival.

Their colorful thematic creations, created under the guidance of St. Albans Town Educational Center instructor Amanda Parker Bates and City School art teacher Kathy Brown, will be used two-fold this weekend: They’ll be on display all weekend at a dozen area businesses and, on Sunday, will be filled with candy for distribution to parade-goers by students walking in
the procession.

Buckets can be seen at: Howard’s Flower Shop, As the Crow Flies, Kevin Smith’s Sports Connection, Bayberry Cottage, RSVP, St. Albans City Clerk’s Office at City Hall, STAART Gallery, Sweet Nothings, Park Café, and Betty's Flower Basket.

Open Doors is a 21st Century Community Learning Center program designed to assist middle school students in meeting state and local academic achievement standards in core subjects by providing enrichment opportunities. Programs are based at the St. Albans City and St. Albans Town Educational Center.

For more information on Open Doors call at 524-2600 or visit http://www.franklincsu.org/opendoors.

Featured Artist: David Juaire

Many people will probably recognize the name and the work of David Juaire. David has been an area landscape photographer for many years and his work has been frequently published in the pages of Vermont Life Magazine. See the work David has on display at Staart here.

David's bio:
David Juaire was born and raised on a dairy farm in Franklin County. “I have always appreciated the beauty and solidarity of the remote pastoral scenes, rolling meadows, stony pastures, stone walls, back roads, woods and babbling brooks. I purchased a 35mm camera 28 years ago and I taught myself by reading books, magazines and just experimenting with different films, lenses, lighting and especially god’s gift to recognize a scene that would make a good photograph. Ten years ago I bought a used 2 1/4 format camera which took me to another level and encouraged me to be more artistic. My interest in photography kept growing as I was selling photographs to Vermont Life Magazine that were featured in the magazine’s pages, calendars and other publications. I have also sold many calendar pictures to the Co-Operative Insurance Co. I recently purchased a 10 megapixel camera. Although a former film diehard, digital photography has allowed me to experiment and continue my growth as an artist. There is no end in sight to learning about photography. “

Featured Artist: Lourdes Bielsa

Lourdes is an artist that is new to northern Vermont, but her paintings of birds and local wildlife can be appreciated no matter where you live. See more of Lourdes's work at Staart here.

Lourdes's bio:
Lourdes Bielsa moved to Swanton Vermont from St. Petersburg Florida in October 2007. She was born and raised in South America. Some of her early memories are from hiking in the mountains and sensing the force of life in the Cloud Forest. She came to the United States to pursue her degree in Wildlife Ecology at the University of Florida. It was there she began to feel the need to depict the beauty of nature through images and color. Her mother and grandfather were both visual artists, always with a brush or a pencil in hand. They painted portraits, boats, and houses. However, it was animals and landscapes that capture Lourdes’ passion. Painting wildlife is Lourdes’ way to portray and share what she feels is beautiful and truthful in the world. Her favorite subjects are birds of the wild, because of their beauty and freedom. Watercolor is her favorite medium because it is transparent, fluid, and spontaneous in its nature. She is looking forward to capturing Vermont’s natural beauty through her watercolors. Lourdes has exhibited her work in various wildlife art shows in Florida. Some of her paintings have won awards in the Tampa Bay area, where she has sold many prints and paintings.

Featured Artist: Robert Malbon

Bob Malbon is one of the few artists we have on display who is not currently a local. Although he resides in Maine, he's no stranger to the Vermont landscape…especially the bird's eye view. Bob frequents the Quechee Balloon Festival to capture his striking images of hot air balloons now on display in the gallery. You can see more of Bob's work at Staart here and visit his website to see even more.

Bob's bio:
"I started with photography in college with a 35mm camera loaded with Kodachrome aimed at sporting events. I soon upgraded to a Nikon F with better glass and B&W film. A workshop with Lee Parks taught me the Zone System. When I became the darkroom manager at the Project, Inc., a Cambridge MA art school, I was provided the opportunity to do a 4x5 workshop with Minor White. That opened the door to teaching darkroom techniques and the Zone System. While working for several years in advertising photography, I also focused on architectural projects. After moving from Boston to rural Maine, I was without access to a darkroom and drifted away from photography and into cabinet making. There I stayed for 30 years! Digital came to the rescue and today I am rediscovering the pleasure I used to find in hunting down the perfect photograph. I have always been intrigued by the beauty of wild creatures and the wildscapes here in New England. Currently I am spending part of my photography time here in Vermont working on several ongoing projects for Vermont Life magazine. When at home on the Maine coast, I look for the perfect wildlife photo opportunities."

Celebrate Clair

Friday night, new Staart artist held a personal reception to celebrate her first public showing of her work. A good crowd showed and she made some great sales, so good for you Clair! (That's her in the top left…finally smiling after the nerves wore off.)

Featured Artist: Karen Day-Vath

Karen Day-Vath is a versatile artist who displays a wide range of talent. Equally impressive is her involvement in the area arts community to which she is an active member. See the work Karen has at Staart here and visit her website here.

Karen Day-Vath is a self taught artist working in oil and acrylics. Karen was born in New York City and grew up in Manhattan. She lived in Staten Island until moving to Vermont in 1995. While living in Staten Island she gained an interest in oil painting but the priorities of job and family forced her to stop. In 2002 she decided to explore the world of oils once more and in the past two years she has been working with acrylics and mixed media. Karen enjoys painting abstracts that are bold and bright, and believes that color matches the spirit and emotions. She states, “I love bright and bold colors and it seems I cannot get away from them. No matter how subdued the colors are when I begin to work, the color always takes over. My work is more expressionism than anything else. I like the creativity of experimentation and the freedom of expression that I feel when I paint an abstract and as the paint goes on the canvas it begins to come together.” She also enjoys painting florals and landscapes on occasion and loves impressionistic works, especially those of Monet and Van Gogh.

Featured Artist: Kimberlee Forney

Kimberlee Forney is one of the latest additions to the Staart Gallery. She has a really unique style that puts a smile on my face and has caught the eye of everyone who has been in since we hung her paintings on the walls. You can see more of her work at Staart here and she has her own website with even more stuff and info on her social missions here. Enjoy!

Here's Kim's bio:
Growing up in northern Vermont, Kimberlee Forney enjoyed creating art at an early age. She developed her artistic and technical skills while attending Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania. While there she studied various artistic mediums, including printmaking, lithography, sculpture, drawing and painting. After graduation, Kimberlee’s fantastical style developed out of a basic idea involving a lively and musical bar scenario with human-like forms embedded in the scene (titled “Jazzy at the Bar”). Her business, Natural Expressions, was formed and other pieces involving various cultural scenes, animal forms, and landscapes soon followed. Her favorite subjects to explore relate to the beauty and spirituality present in the natural world and in the cultural world surrounding us. She reproduces her paintings in the form of limited-edition giclee prints at North Seven Studios in Brandon, Vermont. Kimberlee displays at the Brandon Artists’ Guild in Brandon, the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe, Art on Main in Bristol, The Northern Vermont Artist’s Association (NVAA), Kennedy Bros. in Vergennes, the Chaffee Art Center in Rutland and the Artisan’s Gallery in Waitsfield. She also displays art on the PBS online art’s gallery. When the weather is right, she enjoys to paint and display her artwork in the artist’s alley on Church Street in Burlington.

Featured Artist: Clair Dunn

To kick off our featured artist series, we'll start with artist Clair Dunn. She currently has a large selection of her photographs on display at Staart including many solarized black and white images that are just haunting. Below is her bio and you can see her work here. This Friday evening, Clair is holding a reception at Staart from 5 -7 pm. Stop by and meet the artist!

Clair Dunn lives in Fletcher, Vermont on land that has been in her family since 1867—land that is not only in the family, but in her blood. The result of her second visual career is on this wall. And it is deeply Vermont. Clair’s Vermont. The disparity between her earliest memories of Vermont in the late forties and the current state of the State. Memories of the cold water hand pump in the kitchen, the functioning outhouse near the woodshed, the incredible advent of the second-hand pull-chain flush toilet, followed by a squeeze-handled hot water faucet and a bathtub, memories of sitting by the big window and watching the very few cars go by at night in the ‘50s and being able to tell who it was by the shape of the tail-lights. It was a world without strangers. Those driving on your back road were your neighbors, the same ones on the four and eight party lines connected to the weighty black phone with the distinctive ring. Impossible now to capture the source of these memories, her photographic work seeks to capture what is left that summons these memories—the faint traces of what is gone, what little is left, and what she knows is going. The camera may record in color, but Clair sees and feels in black and white, then and now. Above all—or beneath all—is rural Vermont. Taking to heart the words of the great Depression Era photographer, Dorothea Lange: The camera is an instrument that teaches people to see without a camera. Clair will continue to seek out her black and white visions of her black and white Vermont.

Featured Artists

Starting Monday, April 14, I will be starting to publish a featured artist series on the blog. Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday will feature the bio of one of our artists with a few pics of their work. It will be a great way to introduce each person and let you get to know them and their work a little better. Stay tuned!

Friday's Show

Here's some photos from the Franklin County Art's Alive reception at Union Station in Burlington from Friday night. The vodka-infused tomatoes were awesome!

Gail Salzman in 2 Shows!

Below is information on 2 shows for local artist Gail Salmzan. Check them out!

ARTworksHERE

15 Vermont artists, April 4-24

*Opening Reception Fri April 4, 5-8pm

Firehouse Gallery, 135 Church Street

Gallery hours Mon-Fri 9-5pm, Sat-Sun 12-5pm

and

Gail Salzman

Paintings & Monotypes

now thru June 29

Fletcher Allen Hospital

Main Street Corridor

Gail Salzman

www.gailsalzman.com

269 Burnor Road

Fairfield VT 05455

802-524-5057

Coming up for Chepe…

Chepe Cuadra painting the fountain in Taylor Park during "Celebrate St. Albans" 2007.

I was recently forwarded the following information: "Local artist Chepe Cuadra will be showing at SEABA Gallery in South Burlington. Chepe is a graduate of Johnson State College with a major in Art. He will have a one man showing at the gallery through April, titled "Fragmented Figure." Chepe is a member of the Saint Albans Artists' Guild who recently taught a master class in figure drawing at the STAART Gallery. In July he will also be teaching a month-long live life drawing class at the Firehouse Gallery in Burlington."