Artist of the North Country Studio Workshops

McGowan Fine Art announces the opening of “Artists of the North Country Studio Workshops” featuring the works of 20 different artists. The show will run from March 9-April 9, with a reception on March 12 from 5 to 7 PM. This is free and open to the public and a portion of all sales will benefit North Country Studio Workshops.

North Country Studio Workshops is an educational organization that has served the creative community since 1990. The goal of the workshops is to provide an affordable, quality art education experience for established and emerging artists. Every two years participants gather at Bennington College in Vermont to learn from nationally acclaimed faculty and to network with their peers.
In this collaboration with McGowan Fine Art, participants from previous workshops were asked to submit work inspired by their classes at NCSW. The mediums employed range from bookmaking, metal, glass, & wood to solar printmaking. The styles are as varied as the mediums, reflecting the experiences of the students with their instructors. For two dimensional work the encaustics of Lissa Hunter range from representational to more abstracted natural forms. She uses the medium to its maximum effect in “Tumbling Stones.” The translucent layers of wax glow with light and giving the stones life-like colors. There are several other two dimensional artists joining Lissa in the show. Margaret Merritt combines solar plate etching with photography to illustrate the flora & fauna of her garden. Denise Linet uses printing techniques on fabric to create more expressive and colorful interpretations of flowers as in “A Riot of Roses.”

In the three dimensional realm are several ceramic artists. Joshua Primmer’s Eastern influenced Ikebana vases and teapots are very sculptural, while Devitt Liptak and Teresa Taylor use their forms as a surface to decorate with incised drawings or carved ribs. In the jewelry category will be the show stopping glass bead necklaces of Marcia Herson and the coolly, elegant constructions of Paulette Werger. Her “Moon and Branch” neckpiece combines sterling and pearls into a piece of wearable art. Exploring the tradition of book making is Adele Sanborn’s “Maggie’s Interlude”- more of a paper sculpture than book with a brightly painted heart inside of a paper home. Susan Lirakis’ pieces are a somewhat more traditional interpretation of a book while still including a twist- her “Fun Facts About Birds” book is in the shape of a bird! Polly Allen takes paper to a whole new level with brightly colored strips woven into a stunning basket shape.

This is a show that promises an excellent variety of works for all levels of art lovers.

artwork in order of appearance: Susan Lirakis, Denise Linet, Jessica Seaton, Paulette Werger, Lissa Hunter. To see more by these artists and others go to mcgowanfineart.com.