|
||||||||
|
|
||||||||
|
|||
|
When did you begin painting? Why? It was a gradual process. I was originally a photographer. I found that when I got an inspiration it had to be written down right away or a few minutes later, it would be gone. I first did sketches on 3X5 cards then started carrying pocketsize sketchbooks. What media do you use? It depends on the subject and whether I’m drawing for practice or working on something intended for display. I use pen and ink, pencil or charcoal for sketching, acrylics or watercolor for finished pieces. Do you have a favorite style to work in? Favorite themes to paint? Up to now all of my paintings but one have been “representational.” That is, the subject is recognizable so you don’t have to look for the signature to figure out which way to hang it. On the other hand they’re not photo-realistic. I pick and choose elements to put them where I want them, simplifying and adjusting them in the process. If I work from an actual scene, it is just a starting point. Some of my paintings are totally imaginary. I generally do landscapes and figures. Do you belong to any art organizations/societies? Studio Artist at the Riverfront Renaissance Center for the Arts, 22 North High Street, Millville: There are eight of us who have individual or shared studios at the RRCA. I am a Center Artist member of the RRCA. “Center artists” are juried into membership based on an application and review by a committee of ten images of the applicant’s work. I became a Center Artist member in 2005, one year after I first moved into the studio. There is a higher level of artist membership, Associate Artist, which calls for a larger existing body of work, gallery representation or recognition in juried shows and a more extensive background than Center Artist. I joined the RRCA Board of Directors in 2007 and was elected Board Chair for 2010 and again for 2011. I have had other arts memberships but they have dropped away since I joined the RRCA Board. |
|||
|
|||
| How often do you paint in your studio? I get to the RRCA an average of three times a week. When I’m there a good chunk of my time goes to Center business, but that’s OK. In being there and in working on the Board I’ve made a lot of good friends at the Center and around the Art District. When I work in the studio, it always takes a while to get everything else out of my mind and start to work. I have found that four hours is pretty much maximum time I can put into a project before I start to make mistakes. Then it’s time to quit so that the next session doesn’t start with making corrections. Another pet project of mine is the RRCA’s art reference library. We take donations of art books in good condition and make them available to the public. At this point, I have just over 700 titles cataloged in Library Thing. We don’t loan the books out but we have a photocopier in the library for students. We get walk-in traffic and students from Millville High School and Cumberland County College. The catalog is available online at LibraryThing.com, listed as “rrca.”
In the summer, I will be in an exhibition of RRCA Studio Artists. That show opens on August 19, Third Friday and closes on September 10. There are other juried shows during the year, which intend to submit work to. I want to invite everyone to visit the Glasstown Arts District’s Third Friday events. On the third Friday of each month, year ‘round, all of the galleries change their exhibits, refreshments are served and the studios at the RRCA are open. In addition to the RRCA, La Bottega of Art, the Village on High, the Clay College of Cumberland County College, JB & Me, the Artists’ Consortium, Glasstown Art Glass (with demonstrations), Strange Design, Lotus, the Refrigerator Door Gallery and others are located on High Street in the five blocks between Main Street (Rt. 49) and Broad Street (which is Rt. 552, or Bear’s Head Road). Ellen Gavin’s Green Boots Studio is a block from the RRCA on Second Street. For more information go to rrcarts.org and glasstownartsdistrict.com. |
|||
|
