Category: art

(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.

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. 

 

Ilonka Karasz Photo Gallery

Ilonka Karasz Design Work is an outstanding show that includes Karasz’ many New Yorker Magazine covers, her furniture and the design studies she did with her students.

This exhibit was arranged by Sue Bemel, Lyn Youland, and Tim Hull with brochure & card design by Kory Trolio. Special thanks to Ilonka Sigmund for the loan of many papers, photographs, and works of art from the family’s collection and to Roger Lipsey, from the Gurdjieff Foundation, for the loan of 17 mounted covers from “The New Yorker” magazine. Also included is work by her students.

Photos by Arlene Prince. Click on the thumbnail to see full size images.

Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
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Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work
Ilonka Karasz - Design Work

12

Patterns and Rhythms

 

John Toth is an intermedia artist who uses a computer as an instrument to explore the layering of sculpture, painting, music, sound, dance, video, film, and written text. This allows for relationships to be made between media.  His multi-perceptual collages explore the effects of presenting simultaneous impressions. The intent is to broaden the language of artistic expression and consider the ways in which our multiple sense effect the way we experience life around us.

Martha and Morgan Haude: Water and Clay

Haude

The August exhibit at the Amity Gallery will feature the watercolor paintings of Martha Haude and the ceramics of her daughter, Morgan Haude.

Martha Haude utilizes many objects that she has collected in her world travels as subjects for her watercolors.  She also loves gardening, another theme to be found in her watercolors.

Morgan Haude is a ceramicist and painter living in the Hudson Valley. She received her BFA from Alfred University and since 2007 has worked as a sculptor and painter for a prosthetic company. Clay has been a lifelong passion but she enjoys working in a wide variety of mediums and she is always looking for her next hobby.

 

AN ARTFUL REUNION

An Artful Reunion

 

The Sundwalls moved to Montgomery NY in 2015.  Married 27 years, they met in the art group at the School of Practical Philosophy in NYC.  They both study and tutor at a branch of the School in Wallkill Hamlet, where the core teaching is Advaita — non-duality.  The philosophy seeks to discover the unity which underlies the apparent diversity in the creation, and the same methods used to discover and know the ultimate reality of oneself can be applied to everything one does, including the making of art.

The basic principals are:

Self- aware, let the work begin from stillness

Allow the attention to rest on the work

Surrender all unnecessary thinking

Follow the flow of the work without seeking results

Joseph and Elizabeth rediscover themselves in the creative process.  When other concerns fall away, one can delight in the feel of the tools being used while simply watching the work take place.  In self-awareness there is also a profound appreciation of the beauty and diversity of the creation.  Ultimately, wherever you look you find yourself.

“It’s a gift to live a life with someone who is equally passionate about art and devoted to making it.  Although we work separately for long stretches of time, we can always rely on the other’s support and encouragement.  It’s ever illuminating to see what has emerged from our work each day, and to share new insights and discoveries that inform it and keep us going back to the easel.”

The Sundwalls will be working on site throughout the exhibition.  You are invited to talk to them about their materials, methods and approach to the work, or you can just look over their shoulders and watch it take place.

James Garvey Vessels

James Garvey is a blacksmith with a differenceCaptureBlacksmith

James Garvey is a blacksmith with a difference. His love of creating metal sculptures is expressed by his statement,” Blacksmithing involves passion, intellect and full force physical input.” As an instructor in the Art Student League’s metal forging class he has been an inspiration to his students as well as having an accomplished career as a blacksmith and artist.

Garvey earned a BFA from Colorado State University. He was a student of Mrs. Louise March; a spiritual teacher and director of fine handcrafted objects. He later joined the New York City Ironworkers Union and participated in the repair of the Statue of Liberty.

An exhibition of his forged iron, sculptural Vessels and ink drawings will be on display every weekend in November from noon to 4 p.m. at the Amity Gallery, 110 Newport Bridge Road, Warwick, NY. The artists reception will be held on Saturday, November 3, from 5:00-7:00 PM. There will also be an Artist Talk on Saturday, December 1, at 1:00 PM. This is a rare opportunity to see Garvey’s work and to see the potential of forged iron as a sculptural media and process.

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On Saturday, December 1, at 1:00 PM there will be an Artist Talk by James Garvey at the Amity Gallery in Warwick, NY.This will also be the last opportunity to see James Garvey’s exhibition at the Gallery. James will be explaining his process in creating forged metal sculpture and his life and career as an Artist/Blacksmith. The show is an extraordinary collection of his forged iron Vessels. The vessels demonstrate James’ skill as an artist blacksmith and his ability to express his concerns emotionally and spiritually through sculpture and forged metal.Following the Artist Talk there will be food, refreshments and an opportunity to talk with James and enjoy his work. It should be an entertaining and enlightening experience. Hopefully, James will be firing up his outdoor display, Tripod and Fire Bowl.Hope that you’ll be able to attend what I believe will be a great program. Please encourage friends interested in Sculpture and Metal Forging to come along.

 

North Lights

Susan S. Cynthia, Daniel, Mitchell – need Susan Hope F. Mary Sealfon and osborne

North Light: A Painter’s Study at Amity Gallery in Warwick, NY is an exhibit curated by Cynthia Harris-Pagano that features works inspired by north light and includes pieces by Jeannette McGee, Cynthia Harris-Pagano, Susan Hope Fogel, Mary Mugele Sealfon, Susan Sciarretta, Mitchell Saler, Demetre Bove, Daniel Grant, and renown guest John Phillip Osborne. The exhibit is on display July 7 – July 29 and open weekends from noon-4pm or by appointment. An opening reception will be held Saturday, July 7 from 5-7pm. The gallery will also be open from Noon to 4pm the day of the reception.

The works in the show demonstrate the unique qualities of cool indoor north light.

Quote from Cynthia “ Since north light comes from a North-facing window, it is the coolest, most consistent, natural but indirect light from the sun. In looking and painting, I am invited to see color value and shadow tone vary subtly as mysteries of light.”

Mitchell Saler is a fine art painter who lives in Middletown, New York.  In 2009, he graduated with an Associate Degree in Visual Arts from Orange County Community College in Middletown, New York.  In 2011, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing, summa cum laude, from the State University of New York at New Paltz.  The university awarded him the Alex Martin Scholarship, and he has received awards in various art exhibits.  He has been exhibiting in a number of venues and is a represented artist at the Wallkill River School.  His works emphasize vastness, dramatic lighting, and atmospheric effects.  He is a Board Member of the Goshen Art League and the Wallkill River School and Art Gallery, and a member of the Orange County Arts Council, the Middletown Art Group, and the Lower Hudson Valley Plein Air Painters.  His website is www.mitchellsaler.com.  He can also be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mitchellsalerartist and on Instagram at https://instagram.com/mitchellsaler and his works can be purchased online at pleinair.store/mitchell-saler.html

Information for attached painting: Yellow Daisies and Alstroemeria
oil on board

11 x 14″

by Mitchell Saler

Daniel Grant is

*a California native and graduate of Sonoma State College with BA in Philosophy and

Psychology;

*studied and worked, sculpting in stone and bronze in Pietrasanta, Italy;

*attended The Sculpture Center in NYC; lives, works and teaches at his home/studio in Westtown, NY and will teach children sculpture this summer at Free Spirit Nature Camp also in Westtown.

Entranced by the Hudson Valley, Mary enjoys plein air painting, portraiture and still life in pastel and oil. A third generation San Franciscan, she received a BA in painting at the University of California at Santa