Michael Byro’s Paintings

Japanese Fishing Village
Running for Cover by Michael Byro
Clam Diggers, Michael Byro, 2018, 16" x 20", acrylic on birchwood and dim

Michael Byro has had gallery shows starting in 2016 at the Amity Gallery, Sugarloaf Performing Arts Center, The New Weis Center for Education, Arts & Recreation, the Suffern Library and the Albert Wisner Public Library in Warwick, NY. Prior to this, he won or placed in the Ringwood Manor Arts Association. He recently taught a pointillism workshop at the Warwick Library. His first impulse was recreating Neolithic cave art. These included the French cave art such as Lascaux, Chauvet and Altamira Spain. His work was featured in the magazine: The Underground Movement by the Central Connecticut Grotto. Articles showcasing his work appeared in Dirt Magazine, the West Milford Messenger and the Warwick Advertiser.

He quickly became fascinated with plywood and the beautiful natural grain in the wood and incorporated that. Then he noticed Mosaics and wanted to recreate some of the artwork from Pompeii, Greece and Israel. He quickly moved on to George Seurat and wanted his “faux-aic art” to delve into pointillism. His passion is faux-aic, pointillism and a combination of the two. He wants recognizable work to be seen in a new way.

He has now sold artwork all over the United States from California, Texas to Maine and Old San Juan. He has been consigned to paint business signs and other work. Locally, his work is at Alan’s Falafel and The Fiesta Cancun in Sugarloaf, NY and the Asian Delicacies in Warwick. He is proud that several paintings are at the El Convento Hotel in Old San Juan. He has done the cover art for all six of Laurie Byro’s poetry books.

To schedule an upcoming show or purchase work please contact The Amity Gallery at or 845-258-0818.

(East) Coastal: Photographs by Jerry Novesky

Venue: Amity Gallery in Amity, NY

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 4, from 5 – 7 pm

Exhibit: Month of April, Saturdays and Sundays from 1 – 4 pm

(East) Coastal reflects more than 15 years of travel up and down the Atlantic Coast from Key West to Nova Scotia. The photos in this exhibit focus on major elements of the very special coastal environment. Where sea and land and sky meet, things seem to be just a bit more intense, more beautiful, more powerful.

Co-founder (with his wife, Janet Crawshaw) and former editor-in-chief of The Valley Table magazine, Jerry Novesky grew up in Middletown and earned a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing (poetry) from Ohio University. He has published dozens of articles and photographs in diverse publications ranging from Darkroom Photography and The American Fly Fisher to Audubon Action and American Health, and has edited more than two dozen books on natural history, outdoor recreation and Hudson Valley history.

PechaKucha #13

PechaKucha nights are fun, informal gatherings where people share their stories and passions in a concise format.

PechaKucha Night #13Saturday, April 18, 2020 at 8 pm – 9:30 pm

PechaKucha Nights are fun, informal gatherings where people share their stories and passions in a concise format. The presenter talks along with 20 images that are each projected for 20 seconds. the talk lasts 51/2 minutes. PechaKucha started in Japan and is not in more than 1000 cities around the world. 

Suggested Donation – $5

All past PechaKucha presentations can be found on the PechaKucha Warwick website, https://www.pechakucha.org/cities/warwick

Participants

Keith's in Australia
Keith & Cedric in Australia

In the Outback

In 1972, Keith Stewart lived for four months in a gorge in Australia’s remote Northern Territory. “ With no humans around, I became chummy with a large monitor lizard who I named Cedric.  Most days Cedric came to my camp to spend time with me and eat fish.”

Where’s the Moose? 

Hiking to waterfalls in New Hampshire and searching for moose, Linda Marchisio and her daughter learn that finding a moose was not the most important quest after all. 

Where's the Moose?
Where's the Moose?
Coming of Age with Motorcycles
Coming of Age with Motorcycles

Those Were the Days: Coming of Age with Motorcycles

Everyone goes through a crazy, mysterious “coming-of-age” period of life.  Ken Karnas revisits his own late 1960s coming-of-age that he navigated, mostly, on two wheels.

Teen Years in Westchester

In the second chapter of her graphic memoir, Pat Foxx faces life in a new school, family dynamics and a glimpse into the future. 

Teen Years in Westchester
Teen Years in Westchester
Adaptability of a Misfit
Adaptability of a Misfit

Adaptability

Anne Hanson shares thirteen images depicting a Toothbrush adapting to various conditions.

Natives, invasive and wild foraging

Ever wondered what’s the deal with native species, and aren’t some non-native species okay to keep around? And what about poking around in the forests for wild foods?

Ilonka Karasz – Modernist Pioneer

There will be an opening reception for Ilonka Karasz’ artwork at the Albert Wisner Library in Warwick, NY on Sunday, March 8 from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm. Paul Kane will give a short talk about her life and work at 1:30. 

In the early years of the last century, a fresh breeze from Europe blew through the world of art and design – a movement called “Modernism”. It was the time of Wiener Werkstätte design in furniture, colorful and original textiles, and astonishing interior decoration. Ilonka Karasz was part of this movement.

Born in Hungary in 1896, she was the daughter of a silversmith and grew up surrounded by the vibrant and colorful designs of Hungarian peasant art. She attended the Royal School of Arts and Crafts in Budapest, one of the first women to be admitted. She emigrated to the United States in 1913 and settled in Greenwich Village, then a lively center of the arts. In Greenwich village she felt free from the Old World prejudice that women could not compete with men in art, and quickly established herself as an artist of unique ability, diversity and energy. She worked with other European emigres to help establish the Modern movement in America, with an emphasis on the applied arts. They founded Modern art schools, published magazines, held important exhibits and established ties to manufacturers. Ilonka often found herself the only woman in these worlds, but moved on a par with the men, working in and winning reknown in a wide variety of fields, including textile, furniture, ceramics, silver, wallpaper and interior design, as well as magazine and book illustration.  She was a well-known designer of covers for “The New Yorker” magazine, designing 186 covers over five decades.  

Ilonka Karasz Photo Gallery from the show of her work at the Amity Gallery last year.

Throughout the many decades of her career, she was able to find a new and fresh expression for her art, experimenting with new materials and methods, and adapting to the changing times. This could be attributed partly to the fact that she had, from her earliest years, a deep appreciation of Nature, and a wish to
understand its laws. In her article “Inspiration” she wrote: “It is in us that God meets with Nature and yesterday parts from tomorrow. There is no other place to look for inspiration except in this unique place that man has within himself, where nature and all new possibilities exist.”

She was the wife of Willem Nyland, the founder of the Chardavogne Group in Warwick, NY, and lived here in the last years of her life. This exhibit at the Warwick Public library, which will open on Sunday March 8, 2020 and end on April 15, will give an overview of her career. There will be an opening reception from 1:00 to 3:00 pm in the Library’s Board room, with a talk given at 1:30 by Paul Kane. 

 

Wondrous Winter

An afternoon of readings to honor and celebrate the wonders of winter.

Poetry, Prose and Imagery to warm the winter soul

Poetry & Prose
An afternoon of poetry and prose to warm the winter soul

Saturday, December 14, 2 pm

An afternoon of readings to honor and celebrate the wonders of winter. Donna Spector, Mary Makofske and Will Nixon are well established writers and poets who reside in the Hudson Valley area. Ms. Bettina Covo is a newcomer to the writing scene who hails from NYC. 

The event will consist of a selection of winter poems and excerpts from Ms. Covo’s A Winter’s Tale. Ms. Covo will provide appropriate atmospheric music as background and may offer a few musical surprises. George J. Nicholson writes, “For over 20 years, composer, author, producer Bettina Covo and I have shared something of a similar creative simpatico. The projects we have collaborated on are of an eclectic mix, but all have one thing in common – our creative spirits inform one another in archetypal space.  It’s no surprise we share a deep appreciation for ancient mythology and the lore of indigenous peoples and places of atmospheric wonder.“

The event should last about 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours with ample time to mingle with the writers, purchase merchandise and sign books.

WOW…5 Years!

The Amity Gallery, first opened in June 2014, is celebrating five years of art exhibits, music, poetry and performances.

A Celebratory Exhibit in December

Amity Gallery 5 Years
Amity Gallery Five Years Celebration

The Amity Gallery, first opened in June 2014, is celebrating five years of art exhibits, music, poetry and performances.  Our December Exhibit, (Dec. 7 – Dec. 22) “Wow..Five Years!”  showcases many of the artists that have previously exhibited. The opening reception will be Saturday, December 14th, 5 pm-7 pm.  The Amity Gallery, located at 110 Newport Bridge Rd. Warwick, NY, is open weekends from 1-4 pm.

Located in the hamlet of Amity in Warwick, the Amity Gallery has been a venue for over 50 visual artists,  musicians, poets, actors and story tellers. The Gallery also hosts PechaKucha Nights, which are fun, informal gatherings where people share their stories and passions in a concise format.

Amity House 1909
Amity House in 1909

Rich in history, the Gallery and the adjacent building have housed a roadhouse for travelers, school classrooms, a bakery and artists workshops. Since the early 60’s the buildings have been owned by the Chardavogne Group also known as Institute for Religious Development. The Chardavogne Group was founded by Dr. Willem Nyland and follows the spiritual teaching of G. I. Gurdjieff.