Visual Arts

Academy Art Museum – July Events

June 16, 2013 by Academy Art Museum Leave a Comment

Exhibitions

James Turrell Perspectives

Through July 7, 2013

The exhibition, James Turrell Perspectives, features the premier of a new installation entitled St. Elmo’s Light, and many other works never before on public view. James Turrell is an internationally-acclaimed light and space artist whose work can be found in collections worldwide. Over more than six decades he has pursued his fascination with the phenomena of light to create striking works that play with the perception and the effect of light within a created space. Since 1974, Turrell has been converting a dormant volcano in Arizona, Roden Crater, into a monumental work of art. James Turrell Perspectives is concurrent with the artist’s retrospectives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition is underwritten in part by the Dedalus Foundation, the Talbot County Arts Council and the MD State Arts Council, Ilex Construction, Inc., The Ravenal Foundation, as well as Thomas and Robin Clarke, Tim Kagan, Frank and Joan Kittredge, and Robert and Marsha Lonergan. The Museum is located at 106 South St., Easton, MD, 21601. For further information, call 410-822-ARTS (2787) or visit www.academyartmuseum.org

Pictured is the new “Aperture Installation” entitled “St. Elmo’s Light,” constructed ex-novo in the Museum’s Lederer Gallery. (Photo by George Holzer)

Jan Kirsh: Forms from the Garden

Through July 7, 2013

Intrigue, whimsy, humor or drama is found in the sensuous curves and shapes of the familiar forms award winning landscape designer and artist Jan Kirsh creates in her sculpture. They inspire healthy chatter, upbeat conversations that evoke positive emotional feelings. The sculpture breathes personality into the easily recognized forms, subtle movement and contours are reminiscent of human anatomy. Nature inspires Kirsh’s work. Cherishing time in her studio, Kirsh has produced voluptuous and exuberant vegetable and fruit forms, made in a variety of materials, including bronze, resin, glass fiber reinforced concrete, stone, coated urethane or fiberglass for large-scale pieces in virtually any size and any color. Her sculptures are simultaneously intimate and heroic, organic and modern, fertile forms that remind us of the infinite wonder of Nature.

Jan Kirsh, Bronze Pear, 2009, Photography by Stephen Cherry.

The Annual Members’ Exhibition

July 27 – August 18, 2013

Members’ Reception and Judge’s Awards presented July 26, 2013, 5:30-7:30pm

Each year, the Museum presents its Annual Members’ Exhibition, featuring member works in oil, watercolor, graphics, mixed media, film, jewelry, painting, sculpture and other applications. This exceptional tradition represents the best of the region’s artists and offers an opportunity to view the creative talents of colleagues and friends. This year the Museum welcomes judge Heather Harvey, Assistant Professor of Studio Art Department of Art and Art History, at Washington College, Chestertown, MD. The Museum invites all current members to show their work in this exhibition. Each member is limited to one original work of art, completed with the last 12 months. Visit www.academyartmuseum.org for exhibition guidelines.

Jane Hetherington, Low Tide, Pastel.

Cedar Colonnade

Howard and Mary McCoy

Through August 1, 2013

The columns and arches of cathedrals and monasteries were inspired by the trees of ancient sacred groves. Making arches with bare cedar branches, environmental artists Howard and Mary McCoy create Cedar Colonnade in the Museum’s courtyard. Bridging nature and architecture, this site-specific installation will lend the space the atmosphere of a medieval abbey cloister and intimate one of the primary functions of an art museum – to provide a non-sectarian, modern-day space for contemplation and spiritual experience. As with last year’s Branch Dance, the branches cast changing shadows into the interior of the Museum throughout the day. The McCoys have been working together collaboratively since 1985 and have shown their work in the U.S., Ireland, Wales and New Zealand.

Howard & Mary McCoy, Cedar Colonnade, Museum Courtyard, 2013.

Lectures

Who’s Buying Contemporary Realism: Why and How?

Peter Trippi, Editor of Fine Art Connoiseur Magazine

Sunday, July 21, 2013 at 2:30 p.m.

Cost: $10 for Museum members, $15 for non-members

Peter Trippi, the editor of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine and a noted expert in representational art, presents an illustrated lecture of recent works by leading American artists who create art in this style. He analyzes current trends in this sector of the art market and other issues of interest to collectors and fans of plein air painting.

Pictured is Peter Trippi, the Editor-in-Chief of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine and a noted expert in representational art. Trippi will present a lecture on this topic during Easton’s Plein Air Festival. (Photo by Francis Hills)

Classes

New Workshop: Oil Painting – The Landscape for Absolute Beginners

Instructor: Diane DuBois Mullaly

July 10, 11 and 12, 2013

Wednesday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Cost $120 members; $145 Non-members
For absolute beginners. This class is a follow-up to Katie Cassidy’s “Oil Painting for the Absolute Beginner” and Diane Mullaly’s “The Next Step for Absolute Beginners.” The class is for students who are inspired by the breathtaking landscapes around them and wish they could paint, but don’t know where to begin. Students learn a step-by-step approach to the landscape, and the basics of painting skies, trees and water. The instructor provides written handouts and plenty of personal attention for each student. A fun and inspiring workshop! Painters provide their own materials. Please bring reference photos and a bag lunch. www.dianeduboismullaly.com.

Minimum 6, Maximum 15.

Personal Mosaics

Instructor: Jennifer Wagner

Monday-Wednesday, July 1-3, 2013, 9 a.m.-12noon

Ages: 8-11

Cost: $65 Members, $75 Non-members

Students create a mosaic to hang on the wall of their rooms! Each student chooses his/her background shape from options like hearts, stars, flowers, cats or other animals. Then they use bits of recycled glass, tile and mirror to personalize their piece. Breaking, adhering and grouting techniques are covered.

Graphic Design Sampler

Instructor: Zac Del Nero

Monday-Friday, July 8-12, 2013, 9:30-11:30 a.m.

Ages: 13+

Cost: $85 Members, $95 Non-members

From iPhones to magazines, fashion to games, images and words shape our lives as never before. We are surrounded by graphic design in advertisements, signs, graffiti, icons, slogans, posters, fonts…the list is never-ending! Students look at examples of design in both familiar and unexpected places and develop their design skills. Projects include creating a personal logo, inventing alphabets, dreaming up new words, creating fantasy maps and making up unusual advertisements.

Artist’s Image of the Chesapeake Bay

Instructor: Elaine Thompsen

Monday-Wednesday, July 15, 16 and 17, 2013, 10 a.m.-12 Noon

Ages: 6 to 9

Cost: $65 Members, $75 Non-members

Learn to draw, paint and sculpt sea life of the Chesapeake Bay. Projects include painting a marsh scene with watercolors, creating a turtle with air-dry clay, and making a fish out of wire and more. Students also learn about environmental issues concerning the health of sea creatures we all know. Each student will receive a signed copy of the Artist’s book, “You Can Draw Me Chesapeake Bay Sea Life and More.”

Artist’s Image of the Chesapeake Bay

Instructor: Elaine Thompsen

Monday-Wednesday, July 15, 16 and 17, 2013, 1-3 p.m.

Ages: 10+

Cost: $80 Members, $90 Non-Members

Learn to draw, paint and sculpt Chesapeake Bay sea life and a skipjack, too! Students learn how to use a bamboo brush to create a watercolor seascape of a skipjack and marsh. They also learn how to use wire to create an “under-the-sea” scene sculpture. In addition, they make a fish in clay that can be used for mobile art and more. Students also learn about environmental concerns in the Bay region. Each student receives a signed copy of the Artist’s book, “You Can Draw Me Chesapeake Bay Sea Life and More.”

Figure Drawing

Instructor: Jonathan Crist

Monday-Thursday, July 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2013, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Age: 13+

Cost: $85 Members $95 Non-Members

Students learn how to create convincing representations of the human figure by drawing each other and/or a clothed model. They use a variety of media, such as charcoal, graphite pencil and blending sticks. Emphasis is on technique, expression and mood. If weather permits, students may work outside. Students should come prepared with sunscreen.

Kaleidoscope Summer Arts Camp: An Innovative Summer Arts Experience

Instructors: Christy Edwards and Maria Sage

Monday-Friday, July 22-26, 2013, 12:30-3:30 p.m.

Instructors: Jen Wagner and Marin Ryan

Monday-Friday, July 29-August 2, 2013, 12:30-3:30 p.m.

Ages: 6+

Cost: $95 Members, $105 Non-members per week

Each week features opportunities to explore and develop projects from observation and imagination. Drawing, painting, sculpture, collage and printmaking may be included. Each week is different.

The listed exhibitions, lectures, events, and classes will be held at the Academy Art Museum, located at 106 South St., Easton, MD, 21601. For further information or to register, call 410-822-ARTS (2787) or visit www.academyartmuseum.org

Filed Under: Arts, Visual Arts

From the Arctic to the Mid-Shore: Inuit Art Exhibition in Cambridge

June 14, 2013 by Spy Desk Leave a Comment

“Battling With the Sea Monsters” by Victoria Mamnguqsualuk is a 1988 stone cut and stencil that will be among the Inuit works on display in July at the Dorchester Art Center.

Few inhabited places on earth are as forbidding as where the Inuit live in the extreme north of Canada: a treeless land of sunless, minus-60 winters and cold muddy summers. This may seem like a world totally alien to people on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, but these two very different areas share some things in common. They’re parts of the same flyway. The Inuits’ Canada geese are Maryland’s Canada geese.

In July, visitors to the Dorchester Art Center in Cambridge can get a glimpse into that fiercely cold world, including Inuit depictions of Canada geese and other wildlife.

Jane and Steve Bailey of Tilghman Island, who collect and sell Inuit art, will be sharing their collection and some of their for-sale pieces in a show called “Sea, Land and Sky: Arctic Art.” It opens on Friday, July 5; an opening reception will be held on Saturday, July 6, from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30.

At the reception, which is sponsored by the Wednesday Morning Artists of Cambridge, gallery-goers will hear a presentation on Inuit art from Bernadette Driscoll Engelstad, an independent curator of Inuit art and cultural history. She has worked closely with Inuit artists and art-producing communities across the Canadian Arctic, organizing exhibitions at many museums in Canada and the United States, including the recent exhibition “Arctic Journeys/Ancient Memories: The Sculpture of Abraham Anghik Ruben” for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. She is a research collaborator with the Arctic Studies Center at the Smithsonian Institution.

The Baileys, who sell Inuit art through their online gallery, BaileyMajorArt.com, started collecting in 1996 when they happened upon a gallery of Inuit art during a visit to Vancouver, B.C. For the next 15 years, they added to their collection, buying at galleries in New York and Canada.

She said that in addition to showing Inuit life, legends and Arctic wildlife, the way these images are handled is unique. “Much of it depicts reality in a very different way from what we’re used to in the European tradition of art,” she said. “For example, some prints depict the inside and the outside of an igloo simultaneously, or show a scene from different perspectives at the same time.”

The Baileys focus on Inuit prints, all of them created in small editions by hand. Many are stone cuts, made by inscribing the image on a flat stone, inking it and pressing paper onto it. Others are stencils, etchings, aquatints and lithographs, all made in art studios in Arctic communities.

These Inuit graphics are a relatively new art form. For centuries, the Inuit people live nomadic lives and their only art was small, easily transported hand-held carvings. After World War II, that nomadic life was ending and the Canadian government wanted to make it possible for the Inuit to live on their own lands in new communities. The government hired John Houston, a Canadian who had studied print-making in Japan, to promote art creation as a livelihood among the Inuit.

The exhibition will run through Saturday, July 27. Two other exhibitions will be simultaneous with the Inuit show: watercolors by Kurt Plinke and driftwood art by Lynn Cegelski. On Saturday, July 13, the gallery will have a SecondSaturday Artists Reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30.

The 1980 lithograph “Camp Life” by Kananginak Pootoogook will be on display at the Dorchester Art Center starting Friday, July 5. Notice that the tent is made of seal skins, as is the handmade boat, called an umiak.

Filed Under: Arts, Visual Arts

Celebrate Art with Talbot County Visual Arts Center in July!

June 12, 2013 by Talbot County Visual Arts Center Leave a Comment

The Talbot County Visual Arts Center will be holding their Members’ Show, “Studio Experience 4 U, Year 2″. This art show will showcase any 2 or 3-dimensional artwork that is done in a studio. It isn’t plein air or

Diane Mullaly Day- “Dreaming”

paintings done in a class, but paintings done by the artist, one-on-one time, with their own creativity and talent. TCVAC wants to celebrate this creative outlet of their members with their first art show at their new location in the Easton Biz and Artz Center, 10 Hanson St. Easton, MD. There is a $15 hanging fee per artist. The day to drop off your art is Tuesday, July 2nd from 2-5 pm. This is the second year that we have celebrated the studio work of our members.

Allan Mielke-”Cookin’ Crabs”

On Saturday, July 6th, “The Arts Center” will be open from 5 – 7pm to view the members’ artwork. This is also the celebration of The Talbot County Visual Arts Center in their new home. Unfortunately, in August 2012, the center was seriously flooded. The organization of local artists persevered, and with the hard work of their Board of Directors and Committees, all volunteers, they are proud to be able to open their own doors again to the public. Their hours of operation will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11am – 4 pm.

During Plein Air Easton, The Arts Center will be open to the public from 11am – 4 pm Monday July 15 – Saturday, July 20. The following are the free demonstrations scheduled there, free admission!

July 16 – Jackie Pfaff-Pratt will be a giving a demonstration of color mixing with oil paints on from 4:30-5:30pm.

July 17 – Jackie Pfaff-Pratt will be giving a pastel demonstration, from 3:30-5:30pm.

July 18 – Allan Mielke will be giving a demonstration of his abstract watercolor techniques.

July 19, there will be an artist doing caricatures from 11am – 3 pm, and, in conjunction with Grafton Gallery, Diane Dubois Mullaly will be giving a palette knife painting demo from 3:30 – 5:30 pm.

Talbot County Visual Arts Center is a non-profit organization, partly funded by the Talbot County Arts Council and the Maryland State Arts Council. For more information about The Arts Center, please contact Jackie Pfaff-Pratt, 443-385-0411, pfaffpratt@msn.com.

Filed Under: Arts, Visual Arts

‘Tree Tricks’ Sculpture by Howard and Mary McCoy at Adkins

June 4, 2013 by Adkins Arboretum

Walk a few yards into the cool, leafy shade of Adkins Arboretum’s forest and you’ll see something odd. Vines climb high into the trees in a tangle of green, but in one area along the path they’re chopped off right at eye level. The 32 tall pines and young saplings rescued from being choked by vines form a site-specific sculpture called “Cropped.”

Centreville artists Howard and Mary McCoy have created nine sculptures for Tree Tricks, their eighth outdoor sculpture show at the Arboretum. Each is site-specific, inspired by a certain place in the forest. The artists will lead a sculpture walk during the show’s reception on Sat., June 22 from 3 to 5 p.m.

Because the McCoys have been creating outdoor art at Adkins Arboretum every other year since 1999, they’ve come to know the forest well.

“Some of these trees are old friends,” said Mary. “We’ve watched them grow and change over the years. Some have fallen in storms. The forest never stays the same, so it’s always giving us new ideas for sculptures.”

The two artists get not only their ideas from the woods but their materials as well. Fallen branches, dead trees, vines and seedpods all become elements in their sculpture.

For “Bristling,” the McCoys gathered hundreds of small branches and inserted them along the length of a fallen tree so that they look like wildly animated plants sprouting from the decaying wood. Beside another path, a small dead sweet gum tree became a sculpture when they blanketed a section of it with dozens of sweet gum seedpods and titled it “Gum Wrapper.”

“Some of the pieces do have a humorous aspect,” said Howard. “We decided to call the show Tree Tricks because we had a lot of fun with it. We’ve become more and more interested in how our pieces blend with the nature around them and how you have to do a kind of double take sometimes to see—is it natural or is it one of the McCoys’ pieces?”

Change is an important theme for these artists. Whether they’re interrupting the growth cycle by cutting vines away or giving a dead tree “new life” by adding branches to it, the changing seasons and the cycles of birth, growth, death, decay and rebirth are recurring subjects in their work. They’re also interested in the sudden changes brought by unexpected events such as storms.

When a storm uprooted a towering tree last summer and wedged it against a slope with its trunk ten feet above one of the Arboretum’s paths, it formed a kind of gateway into the deep forest. For the McCoys, it was an invitation to make sculpture. Since the tree was a sweet gum, they fastened a long line of gumballs in a fringe along its underside and called it “Gumball Crossing.”

“Sometimes nature presents something to us in such an obvious manner that we just have to work with it,” Howard explained. “It’s declared by nature, it’s like ‘Hey, this is for you.’”

This show is part of Adkins Arboretum’s ongoing exhibition series of work on natural themes by regional artists. It is on view through Sept. 15 at the Arboretum, located at 12610 Eveland Road near Tuckahoe State Park in Ridgely. Contact the Arboretum at 410-634-2847, ext. 0 or info@adkinsarboretum.org for hours.

Filed Under: Arts, Arts Lead, Visual Arts

Back in the Woods with Artists Howard and Mary McCoy

May 29, 2013 by Dave Wheelan

For more than a decade, environmental artists Howard and Mary McCoy have been creating extraordinary art in the forest at Adkins Arboretum. Primarily using elements found naturally in the landscape just a few miles south of Route 301, the McCoys have been using the Adkins 300 acre woods as a unique natural canvas to highlight the special connection between nature and art.

Now the husband and wife team have returned to Adkins this summer with a new exhibit starting June 3. The Spy was able to get a sneak preview of their new work and talk about the importance of environmental art with them last Saturday.

The video is approximately four minutes long

Howard and Mary McCoy: Outdoor Sculpture
June 1-September 15, 2013
Reception: June 22

Filed Under: Arts, Arts Lead, Homepage Slider, Top Story, Visual Arts

Academy Art Museum – June 2013 Events

May 9, 2013 by Academy Art Museum

Event

Juneteenth Celebration

Frederick Douglass Honor Society and the Academy Art Museum

Friday, June 14, 2013 and Saturday, June 15, 2013

Academy Art Museum in Easton, Maryland

Juneteenth, one of the most important African American holidays in the country, marks the abolition of slavery. It commemorates the date – June 19, 1865 – when the slaves in Galveston, Texas first received the word of the Emancipation Proclamation, which Abraham Lincoln had issued two and one-half years earlier on January 1, 1863. This year’s Juneteenth Celebration will begin on Friday, June 14 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Academy Art Museum with a reception and lecture celebrating Easton’s “The Hill Project,” the birthplace of African Methodism on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Professor Dale Glenwood Green from Morgan State University will present information about “The Hill,” which may be the oldest African-American neighborhood in the United States of America (circa 1790). The celebration will continue on Saturday, June 15, at 11 a.m. at the Museum with an art demonstration by African-American ceramic artist Ernest Satchell, a native of Virginia’s Eastern Shore whose figurative sculpture and extra-large vessels are unique on the Eastern Shore. Other activities on Saturday include a performance of African dance and music by the Sankofa Dance Theatre from Baltimore, gospel music by several local church choirs, art projects for children and families, the “Spoken Word” writings from local youth, a “knowledge fair” with booths that showcase African-American community organizations and programs and Reddie Eddie’s Ribs & Chicken BBQ. Support for the event has come from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Talbot County Arts Council. For more information about the Juneteenth Celebration, visit the Frederick Douglass Honor Society at http://www.frederickdouglasshonorsociety.org/ or the Academy Art Museum athttp://www.academyartmuseum.org/.

Pictured is African-American ceramic artist Ernest Satchell. His figurative sculpture and extra-large vessels are unique on the Eastern Shore.

Exhibitions

James Turrell Perspectives

Through July 7, 2013

The exhibition, James Turrell Perspectives, features the premier of a new installation entitled St. Elmo’s Light, and many other works never before on public view.James Turrell is an internationally-acclaimed light and space artist whose work can be found in collections worldwide. Over more than six decades he has pursued his fascination with the phenomena of light to create striking works that play with the perception and the effect of light within a created space. Since 1974, Turrell has been converting a dormant volcano in Arizona, Roden Crater, into a monumental work of art. James Turrell Perspectives is concurrent with the artist’s retrospectives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibition is underwritten in part by the Dedalus Foundation, the Talbot County Arts Council and the MD State Arts Council, Ilex Construction, Inc., The Ravenal Foundation, as well as Thomas and Robin Clarke, Tim Kagan, Frank and Joan Kittredge, and Robert and Marsha Lonergan. The Museum is located at 106 South St., Easton, MD, 21601. For further information, call 410-822-ARTS (2787) or visit www.academyartmuseum.org

Pictured is the new “Aperture Installation” entitled “St. Elmo’s Light,” constructed ex-novo in the Museum’s Lederer Gallery. (Photo by George Holzer)

Jan Kirsh: Forms from the Garden

Through July 7, 2013

Jan Kirsh, Chili Pepper, Photography by Stephen Cherry.

Cedar Colonnade

Howard and Mary McCoy

Through August 1, 2013

Howard & Mary McCoy, Cedar Colonnade, Museum Courtyard, 2013.

Lectures

Lecture in Partnership with Temple B’nai Israel Summer Institute

“The Book of Happy Writings”

Joelle Dautricourt

Friday, June 21, 2013, 7 pm

Cost: Free

Sorbonne-educated French graphic artist and sculptor, Joelle Dautricourt, brings alive “The Book of Happy Writings,” a series of 26 calligraphic prints, bringing together the genre of classical mysticism with modern graphic techniques. These biblically-inspired dynamic prints present a contemporary visual language embracing classical and ancient themes.

“The Book of Happy Writings” by Joelle Dautricourt

Wonders of the Night

Dr. Joseph Schulman

Thursday, June 27, 2013, 6:00 p.m.

Cost: $10 Museum members, $15 for non-Museum member

Dr. Joseph D. Schulman presents a program of astronomical imagery, “Wonders of the Night Sky: Astrophotography and the Story of the Schulman Telescope.” In this program, he takes the audience into the vast world of galaxies, planetary and light and dark nebulas, and globular star clusters to observe the visual and scientific splendor of these sights as seen and photographed with a high resolution telescope named after him at the University of Arizona’s Mount Lemmon Observatory. Renowned University of Arizona astrophotographer, Adam Block, who supervises activities at the Schulman telescope, explains some of its features, and program attendees are able to watch the telescope in both daylight and nighttime operation.

Messier 104, Sombrero galaxy, Mt. Lemmon 24 inch R-C, original gray-scale capture by Adam Block, processing by Joseph D. Schulman

ADULT CLASSES

Summer Watercolor Workshop

Instructor: Heather Crow

Friday-Sunday, June 28-30, 2013,10am – 4pm

2-day format (Saturday-Sunday) Cost: $150 Members, $185 Non-members and $10 supply fee

3-day format (Friday-Sunday) Cost: $210 Members, $245 Non-members and $10 supply fee

Summer near the water — and watercolor — just go together. Painters of all levels can learn to work more thoughtfully without sacrificing spontaneity. Anything can be painted. The secret is not the subject, but how artists see and design the shapes, values, and colors. And since color is a watercolor painter’s main design tool, students can sort out the most helpful, essential, and dependable pigments — drawing from traditional and modern palettes. Creative exercises — one interpreting a photo of the refrigerator in the kitchen setting, and one involving reflections in puddles or water — teach students how to tackle quirky subjects and see their spaces and places — or their still life and people — through fresh eyes. Some papers, pigments and brushes are furnished. Students should bring any watercolor paints they own (do not buy new paints), a container for water, a palette or white plate, any brushes and watercolor paper, a clean sponge, masking tape, an old towel, a ruler, scissors, and a #2 pencil and an eraser.

Email or call Heather with questions or for more detailed supply suggestions, at heather.crow@goeaston.net or 410-310-5615. NOTE: Students may take this as a 2-day or 3-day workshop. Although Friday’s content is a “stand-alone” day, it may not be taken without the other 2 days. Workshop is limited to 12 students.

Beautiful Blooms: Painting the Garden is Pastel

Instructor: Katie Cassidy

June 24, 25 and 26, 2013

Monday- Wednesday, 9:30am – 2pm

Cost: $ 125 Members, $150 Non-members

Capture the beauty of a garden. Using photos for reference, students work through the steps of composing a pastel painting – composition, value studies, underpainting techniques and finishing details- to create a memorable piece of art. The medium of pastel is perfect for this subject matter because the colors are fresh and rich in chroma. This is a fun and rewarding workshop and all levels are accepted. www.katiecassidyfineart.com

Marine Painting

Instructor: Matthew Hillier

Saturday and Sunday, June 8 and 9, 2013, 10am – 4pm

Cost: $200 Members, $230 Non-members

This workshop is all about helping students to capture the power, and drama of the ocean – waves crashing and light filtering through water. Matthew was brought up in a beach house on the English coast, and has always been fascinated by the ocean. It is a favorite subject of his and he can’t wait to share his love and a few secrets of painting this exciting subject. This workshop is for all levels. Because students paint in oils and acrylics, they will need to bring paints, canvases or boards, sketchbooks and reference. The instructor will also provide additional reference photos.

One Day Workshop: Paint the Chesapeake

Instructor: Matthew Hillier

Saturday, June 29, 2013, 10am – 3:30pm

Cost: $100 Members, $125 Non-members

This workshop is an opportunity to complete a painting in a day. The instructor helps students from start to finish. In fact, he paints alongside students, guiding them through the different stages of the painting. The subject is a work boat in the bay. Reference and 5 x 7 boards will be provided.

Color – How Did You Mix That?

Instructor: Diane DuBois Mullaly

3 weeks: June 13 – 27, 2013

Thursdays, 10am – 1 pm
Cost: $ 115 Members, $135 Non-members
For all levels, including those new to oil painting. This is Diane’s very popular color workshop in a condensed weekly format. If you struggle with mixing color, have trouble getting the colors you want, and wish you knew how to work with a limited palette, this indoor studio class is for you. It is highly interactive and fun, with weekly demonstrations, written materials filled with pointers, lots of experimentation, and plenty of one-on-one attention. Learning more about color will help students enjoy painting more, keep their colors radiant, and keep them from muddling their paint by trying again and again for the color they want.www.dianeduboismullaly.com.

Minimum 6, Maximum 15.

Stained Glass Mosaic Studio

Instructor: Jen Wagner

Ongoing Open Studio

Wednesdays, 6-8pm and Sundays 1-4pm

Cost: $250 Members, $285 Non-members. Priced per project

Students create a beautiful stained glass mosaic project in an open studio setting. This class covers design, breaking, adhering and grouting techniques. Students begin by creating a stained glass mosaic window, then move onto projects of their choice. This class provides ample time to work, allowing optimal creative results. Contact the instructor for more information at 443-521-4084.

Photoshop Elements – Intermediate Level

Instructor: George Holzer

Mondays, June 10 – August 5, 2013, 6 – 8:30pm

Cost: $190 Members, $215 Non-members

This class is for Adobe Photoshop Elements users who have either taken a beginner class or are experienced with the basics of program. This means being comfortable with using most of the basic programs tools (resizing, cropping, basic color correction, basic image repair). This will be a “hands on” course with students using their own laptop with a (somewhat recent) version of Photoshop Elements installed. The class will cover: some review of the basics, but more on the various ways of making and refining selections, use of layers, layer masks, more in depth color correction and enhancements, converting color images to B&W, toned images, use of sharpening, blurring, noise, dust & scratches, and the lens correction filters, and output (printing or optimizing for web/email). Class is limited to 6 students.

* Students will need their own laptop and a version of the program installed.

* Both Windows or Mac users are welcome. Photoshop is a cross platform application.

*Please: This class is not for those new to or inexperienced with this program.

Individual Lessons in Photography or Photoshop

Instructor: George Holzer

Day of the week, dates, etc.: TBD

Cost: TBD (per hour fee)

Private lessons in digital photography, Photoshop (Elements or Full Version), and general digital imaging; Shooting pictures and photography principles, Photoshop enhancements and creative uses, specific individual digital projects. Lessons can be tailored to individual needs and time frame.

SUMMER CAMPS

Extreme Art

Instructor: Heather Crow

Monday-Friday, June 17-21, 2013, 9:30-11:00am

Ages: 4-7

Cost: $100, Members, $110 Non-members

Look at nature artfully to sculpt and paint the biggest, smallest, highest, lowest, oldest, coldest, most beautiful and most bizarre things. The animal, plant and mineral worlds will be the inspiration — from the deepest sea to the highest mountain. A terrific way to begin summer! Questions? Please email Heather atheather.crow@goeaston.net. Bring a snack if you are staying for two classes.

Printmaking: Colorful Multiples

Instructor: Heather Crow

Monday-Friday. June 17-21, 2013, 11:15am-1:15pm

Ages: 7+

Cost: $125 Members, $135 Non-members

Students use the art of multiple cultures of the world to make their own colorful fabric and paper art prints — everything from monoprints, to block- prints to silkscreens. West African Kente Cloth, wearable Japanese Shibori and colorful watercolor monoprints will be part of the fun. Questions? Please email Heather at heather.crow@goeaston.net. Bring a snack if you are staying for two classes.

Acrylic and Watercolor Painting

Instructor: Heather Crow

Monday-Friday, June 17-21, 2013, 1:30-3:30pm

Ages: 10+

Cost: $125 Members, $135 Non-members

This class is for children who want to learn the real way that real artists make real paintings. Students will practice varied techniques from bright Pop Art to the more traditional to build skills useful to young artists. Students may work on unique ideas they bring to class or work with the teacher to come up with creative ideas for paintings. The teacher’s helpful encouragement will improve both students’ painting and drawing skills. Questions? Please email Heather atheather.crow@goeaston.net. Bring a snack if you are staying for two classes.

Full Circle with Art

Instructor: Maria Sage

Monday-Friday, June 24-28, 2013, 9:30am-12:00 noon

Ages: 6-9

Cost: $125 Members, $135 Non-members

Have you ever thought of a circle as more than just a shape? There are many different ways the circle has inspired artists and cultures. We will explore art and the circle using different art making materials in our creative journey.

Create a Mosaic Mural in Downtown Easton!

Instructor: Jennifer Wagner

Ages: 8-11, Monday-Friday, June 17-21, 2013, 9am-3pm

Ages: 12-16, Monday-Friday, June 24-28, 2013, 9am-3pm

Cost: $210 Members, $220 Non-members per week

Students will work collaboratively on a mural in a downtown Easton location, using bits of recycled glass, tile and mirror. They will learn breaking, adhering and grouting techniques…and get to show off their work for decades to come!

The Spy will be running this schedule individually throughout the month of June
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Filed Under: Visual Arts

James Turrell Perspectives Opens at Academy Art Museum

May 8, 2013 by Academy Art Museum

Pictured is the new “Aperture Installation” entitled “St. Elmo’s Light,” constructed ex-novo in the Museum’s Lederer Gallery. (Photo by George Holzer)

The Museum was abuzz with the opening of James Turrell Perspectives, with guests intrigued while entering the new installation entitled St. Elmo’s Light. Over more than six decades he has pursued his fascination with the phenomena of light to create striking works that play with the perception and the effect of light within a created space.

Since 1974, Turrell has been converting a dormant volcano in Arizona, Roden Crater, into a monumental work of art. James Turrell Perspectives is concurrent with the artist’s retrospectives at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

James Turrell Perspectives emphasizes the issues and ideas that have been at the core of Turrell’s work. The exhibition consists of four components, installed in four ground floor galleries in the Academy Art Museum, including a room of holograms, the site-specific light installation, a selection of photographs and plans and a set of bronze and plaster models related to the Roden Crater project in Arizona. Together these four parts will focus on Turrell’s fascination with both the mechanics of visual perception and the metaphysics of light. They will also introduce recurring themes in Turrell’s oeuvre related to geologic time and his efforts to give viewers a direct experience with the cosmos. Anke Van Wagenberg will provide curator-led tours on Friday, May 10, noon, Thursday, May 23 and Friday, June 7, 2013 at 12 noon. For further information, visit academyartmuseum.org or call 410-822-2787.

Pictured are Judy Stansbury, member of the AAM Board of Trustees, Percy North, and Anke Van Wagenberg, Curator of the Museum in front of a map image of Turrell’s Roden Crater. (Photo by Amy Blades Steward)

Pictured left to right are Kyung-Lim Lee and husband James Turrell with Academy Art Museum Director Erik Neil. (Photo by Amy Blades Steward)

Filed Under: Arts, Visual Arts

Ford Mother and Daughter Art Show Saturday at Talbot Senior Center

April 12, 2013 by Spy Desk

On Saturday, April 13, the Talbot Senior Center will host a unique mother/daughter art show and reception featuring the paintings of Ann and Mary Ford.

There will be about 30 watercolor paintings on display. Mother and daughter each uniquely interpret the natural world in their vibrant and expressive nature studies and landscapes. Both artists will be present and their works will be offered for sale.

Most of the large Ford family lives in or near Easton. John Ford, son and brother (and president of Easton’s Town Council), says, “I am very excited to see my mother’s and sister’s works together in one showing, and invite the community to join my family for this once in a lifetime celebration.”

Ann, the mother of the artistic duo, has lived and worked as an artist in Easton for most of her life. Starting in the late 1960s, she was a student and ultimately taught classes herself at the Easton Art Academy. Most recently, she has taught painting at the Senior Center and is one of the Easton artists who supply original painted banners for the annual Plein Air Festival held annually in July. Throughout her career, Ann has taught classes and exhibited at a wide range of venues, the Easton Academy of Art, the Talbot Senior Center, as well as galleries and museums in the south and elsewhere. Prior to her retirement, Ann was an instructor and arts manager at SERTOMA, an arts facility located in Raleigh, North Carolina. At age 83, Ann has not slowed down artistically, and continues to paint and draw daily.

Daughter Mary Ford, 61, lives in San Francisco and works as a graphic designer at San Francisco State University. She too, is a lifelong painter and exhibits her work regularly. As a child, she recalls watching her mother paint at the kitchen table, “Many of our conversations back then circled around life, love and the use of color. They still do. “

Filed Under: Visual Arts

New Art Show At Church Alley Gallery Opens Today

April 5, 2013 by Spy Desk

Jacquelyn Pfaff-Pratt is opening a new art show called the “Art of the Object”. This show opens April 5, 2013, Friday, 5-7 pm at Church Alley Gallery at 32 & 34 N. Washington St. Jackie has interest and studied the art of still life painting for a while. She has been influenced by the Flemish masters use of light, color and symbolism which she works at putting a more modern approach to representational art of the object. This show will be open for public viewing through the month of April at Church Alley Gallery from 8:30-5:00 Monday through Friday.

Jacquelyn Pfaff-Pratt is an artist that has recently moved to the Eastern Shore. She is from upstate NY where she was an art teacher for 32 years at Red Creek Central Schools. Upon retiring Jackie realized her lifelong dream to become a fulltime artist. She currently works in a variety of media: pastels (oil and soft), oil painting, colored pencils, and jewelry. She attributes the variety to her teaching career where she needed to learn to create in many different ways to teach her students. Her current focus is oil painting.

Jackie’s education started early on as she has had an enduring interest in art. She graduated from Keuka College with a BA in fine arts with a minor in education. She has 35 plus graduate hours in art and education from the following schools: Syracuse University, College of St. Rose, SUNY Oswego, Monmouth University, University of the Arts and Rochester Institute of Technology. Jackie has also taken classes and workshops from some of the leading artists in USA: Albert Handell, Christina Debarry, John Elliot, John Carstens, Madeline Woolrich, Terry Ludwig, Kitty Wallis and Steve Carpenter to name a few. Since moving to Maryland, Jackie has taken the time to take classes/workshops from Nancy Tankersly, Tim Bell, Diane Mullaly, Sara Poly, and Mary Pritchard. David Grafton is her current art “coach” as he likes to refer to himself that way. Jackie has won many awards and honors over her career as an artist. She has exhibited across the United States. Her artwork is in homes CT, MD, NY, TX, WA, SC, CA and GA. Her work can also be found in collections in Norway, Sweden, Brazil, Columbia, South Korea, Australia and Holland.

She has participated in solo and group shows in NY and MD. She continues to pursue her interest in art by involving herself in various art organizations on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She also teaches classes in oil pastels, colored pencil, copper enameling, composition and drawing. She teaches currently at Talbot County Visual Art Center and Dorchester Center for the Arts and from her home studio in Easton. She believes that a good foundation in the principles and the elements of design and strong ability to draw are key essentials to art making.

Making Pickled Beets by Jacquelyn Pfaff-Pratt

Filed Under: Visual Arts

Academy Art Museum Hosts James Turrell’s Perspectives

April 4, 2013 by Academy Art Museum

James Turrell, Aqua De Luz, Tixcacaltuyub, Yucatan, Copyright James Turrell, Photo by Ed Krupp.

The Museum will host the exhibition, James Turrell Perspectives, concurrent with the artist’s retrospectives at the Guggenheim Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Los Angeles County Museum. James Turrell is an internationally-acclaimed light and space artist whose work can be found in collections worldwide. Over more than four decades he has pursued his fascination with the phenomena of light to create striking works that play with the perception and the effect of light within a created space. Beginning in 1974, Turrell has been converting and extinct volcano in Arizona, Roden Crater, into a monumental work of art. The exhibit will be available through July, 7.

James Turrell Perspectives will provide a context for understanding Turrell’s work. The artist, who resides part time on the Eastern Shore, and his team are collaborating fully on the project. The exhibition consists of three parts, an introductory overview, a gallery of holograms, and a site specific Aperture Space. Together these three parts will focus on Turrell’s fascination with both the mechanics of visual perception and the metaphysics of light. The exhibition, organized by Museum Director Erik Neil and Curator Anke Van Wagenberg, is underwritten in part by the Dedalus Foundation, The Ravenal Foundation, the Talbot County Arts Council and the MD State Arts Council, as well as Thomas and Robin Clarke and Robert and Marsha Lonergan.

Filed Under: Visual Arts

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