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.

North Country Studio Workshops

In February of 2008 McGowan Fine Art hosted a show of participants from the North Country Studio Workshops held at Bennington College. It featured over 40 artists in diverse media . It was such a successful show for us and brought publicity to the NCSW program that we decided to repeat it again in 2010.

In an effort to help this large group show go more smoothly I went over to Bennington College last night to give a presentation on how to work with galleries to the attendees of NCSW 2009. I also spoke about approaching galleries in general. Here I am talking (I hope I wasn't lecturing!) to the participants. About 40 people showed up, which was a decent amount as there were two other options for participants to choose from during the time slot. While I talked quite a bit about the Entry Form for the show to be held in 2010, most people were curious about how to approach galleries in general. Apparently it is a big mystery!

Standard protocol to approach a gallery is to first call to see if they are accepting submissions. While I will look at anything that is sent to me via the mail, there are many galleries that will not. Ask what they would like to see, but the standard package usually includes slides, retail price list, resume, statement, articles, and a SASE if you would like your materials back. Make sure that the images are of recent work and that they are available if the gallery would like to take your work on.

NEVER just send an email with attachments or directing someone to a website. Chances are that a spam filter will toss out your email and unsolicited invitations to look at websites are lacking the personal touch that it takes to get me to pay attention. I receive far too many of them from artists who are scattered all over the world. Our gallery is more regional so I try to mostly represent artists from the Northern new England area. That is another tip- target the galleries you approach to make sure that your work is a good fit with the gallery.

Always keep in mind that when a gallery does not accept your work it is a business decision and not a personal judgement. Insurance restrictions and storage space are always on a gallery director's mind. They are very familiar with what their clientele will like, or not like. Their decisions are based on what is best for their clients, the business and you. If your work is consigned to a drawer, never to be shown it doesn't do anyone any good.

And now a quick word from our sponsor- North Country Studio Workshops which has done such a great job of giving high quality educational opportunities to the artists of New England. They help to make artists and galleries more successful! NCSW brings in nationally recognized artists to lead intensive workshops in their medium. Anyone may attend, but they were developed to primarily give access to professional development for Northern New England artists. Thanks!