http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0AMXvHKK4Y
The annual tradition continues at Artworks Around Town of featuring the gallery’s new member artists of the year at the December Gallery Hop. An open reception for the public will be held on Friday evening, December 2nd from 5:00 to 8:00 in the gallery to meet the artists and view their work. Hors d’oeuvres and appetizers will be served.
The North Gallery, which features area art students, will host the work of the students of Natalie Zambori from Martins Ferry Middle School.
The December Gallery Hop features six new artists who became part of the Artworks family this year. The show will consist of the collage and digital images of Lynn Anderson; the photography of Charlene Bernardi; the oil and watercolor paintings of Georgia Dangel; the jewelry of Christa Devine; the fine art digital photography of Joan E. Kerns; and the jewelry creations of Sandra Ziolkowski.
Lynn Anderson is a resident of Quaker City, Ohio. She is a former educator and editor of an internationally circulated four-color Arabian horse publication. Her degree is from Ohio University along with graduate studies at West Virginia University. Joan’s artistic pursuits include painting, mixed media, digital collage, and jewelry.
Charlene Jarrett Bernardi is originally from Bridgeport, Ohio. She is the daughter of Virginia Bailey Jarrett and the late Calving E. Jarrett. Charlene graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1977 and attended West Virginia Northern Community College. She married Robert F. Bernardi, Jr. on June 15, 1985 and lived near the Pocono’s for a couple of years before relocating to Pittsburgh, Pa. In 1991 she and her husband moved to Rhode Island.
Charlene always had a keen interest in photography, and as a small child would use a toy camera following all of the adults around pretending to take their pictures. She loved dancing and posing in front of store mirrors and told her parents that someday, she wanted a real camera!
Charlene finally took a serious interest in photography in 1997 while living in Rhode Island. She purchased her first manual Nikon and was surrounded by beauty everywhere she went. Charlene loves taking pictures of anything to do with nature or the outdoors, as well as anything interesting in front of the camera.
She recently purchased the Nikon D7000 and loves the panoramic view of the Ohio Valley. Artworks Around Town has enabled and established her craft to be taken to a higher level. Charlene’s personal interests include all types of photography, biking.
Thanks to her mother and grandmother, the influence and support of art has always been present in Georgia Dangel’s family. For 24 years, her husband was in the Air Force, which involved state‑side and overseas duty. This gave them the chance to travel and view different areas of the world. She now incorporates what she and her family experienced in her art. Georgia started taking tole painting classes in the early 1980’s before moving to England. Then after moving back to the states, she started taking classes to learn the Bob Ross way of painting. She took a couple of classes to learn to mat and frame that has helped to put the finishing touches to her artwork.
In 1993, her family moved back to the Ohio Valley area, where she learned to glass paint, while working at a glass factory. Once the factory closed, she opened her own shop where she showed her hand‑painted and kiln fired glass, lamps, crocks, china, jewelry, and paintings. For 10 years, her painted wares could be seen at artisan shows in the tri‑state area. She has given up shows for the time being. To continue her current training, she has taken classes and attended seminars from Kitty Gorrell, Robert Warren, Anne Kingslan, (oil) Mark Polomchak, (watercolor), Kathy George (Batik), and Joy Wilson (portraits). Georgia has taught adult night classes at the local branch of Belmont Technical College. She has also taught small classes at her own studio from time to time. Her teaching and the making of instructional packets have been a welcome addition to the business. She will be adding more packets with the addition of each new painting. To improve her artistic skills, she has tried to become more knowledgeable of the different mediums and surfaces from classes, reading, asking questions, and just experimenting on her own.
To replenish ideas for her paintings, Georgia and a friend (Martha) make many I to 3 day trips in the Ohio, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania area, taking pictorial history everywhere they go. They plan many trips out of the tri‑state area, looking for new photo opportunities for future painting subjects.
Her style of watercolor painting is different because of her oil painting background; however, it still comes out in her paintings. She tries to include, when and where she can, the looseness and softness of a traditional watercolor painting. Winter scenes, done in watercolor, are her favorite type of paintings.
Georgia has painted signs on a large scale. Two signs (12’x 4′) for the Monroe County Fair Grounds, the county in which she lives. There was also a (4’x4′) address sign for a friend. She has painted book covers for the Double Edge Press Publishing Company. In the last couple of years, she has been painting from photographs, family homes, and family pets. She can also replicate any photo into a painting. For the past few years she has been doing portraits for her family and on consignment.
Teaching has been put on the back burner for the time being; she and her husband are the caregivers for her 85 year old mother. Setting her paint station close helps to be there for her mother. She works on patterns, paintings, and making instructions. Thanks to her husband, she can get away from time to time to take a class that is close by.
Since 2004 she has entered her paintings in art shows in the surrounding area. She has entered in Homecoming Hues Art Show, Monroe Artists Art Show; Georgia was accepted at the Cross Currents Art Show at the Oglebay Institutes Stifel Fine Arts Center at Wheeling WV. (Spring of 2010); and Steubenville Art Association Art Show in the spring of 2011. Her various awards range from: Peoples Choice, Best of Show, 1 Place, 2nd Place, Place, and Honorable Mentions.
In June of 2010 her 1′ book, “Speaking of Art” was published. This book features many of her paintings and their stories. She is now working on the 2″ “Speaking of Art” book. In August of 2010 she had an article published in the Interactive Artist Magazine. The article was on, The “Quilt Barns”, the beautifully painted patches that have been popping upon barns around the country for the last 10 years.
As a painter I try to paint with an open mind and although it sometimes takes awhile, with patience and a lot of practice it all comes together. My Grandmother and Mother had a big influence in getting me interested in my drawing and painting. I started drawing when I was a child and continued to date with oil and watercolor painting. My style of painting is very precise and detailed. I started out being an oiliest, but decided to try my luck at watercolor, to see if I could loosen up my oil paintings. Well after 10 years of trying, I can say that it didn’t work, as I am still tight. When you look at one of my watercolors it will remind you of an oil painting. I’m still open for any new ideas that come my way.
Christa Devine joins the group of new member artists as a jeweler. One of Christa’s many talents includes the creation of chain and pendants using the ancient technique of Viking Knitting. “Viking knitting” is not actually knitting in the way you might think (i.e. with two needles), but is actually a type of weaving. Chains are made from long pieces of wire that are worked by hand into interconnecting loops. For those who knit with yarn, the connected loops look like twisted knitting (knit through back loop). Necklaces may contain up to 60′ of wire, so several shorter pieces must be joined together during construction of the chain. This can be done without the use of solder because the wire is spliced together in a way that is nearly impossible to detect in the finished piece. The raw chain is woven around a form (Allen wrenches or dowels) and is typically then pulled through holes in a wooden drawplate to tighten the weave and make the chain pliable. Necklaces containing irregular gemstones, however, cannot be pulled through a drawplate and must be pulled by hand. The ends of each chain are finished by hand-coiling a heavier gauge wire, again using only cold connections and no solder. Examples of these chains have been found at various archeological sites in Scandinavia dating back to the 8th century A.D (the Viking era). Similar chains have been found in other areas of the world, so the technique may not have been unique to the Vikings. Indeed, chains that look identical can be made with a different weaving technique that forms the chain in the opposite direction.
As a retired teacher and native West Virginian, Joan Kerns is now finding much needed time to explore her passion, the multi-faceted world of photography. Since her first black and white experiences in a basement darkroom as a teen, she has been fascinated with her ability to capture that which the naked eye cannot or does not observe in day-to-day life, especially through the use of macro. Being self-taught has made the photography adventure one of discovery and reward, as opportunities to share the world around us with others continue to present themselves.
Sandra Jean Ziolkowski is an expert professional artisan creating handcrafted works from silver, copper and various metals as well as beautiful one‑of‑a‑kind glass jewelry pieces. Besides Artworks Around Town many of Sandi’s original jewelry designs and silver crafts (including intricate belt buckles and other silver works combined with glass beads) can be found at the Stifel Fine Arts Center, in Wheeling WV, and at the Tamarack, in Beckley, WV. Her handcrafted silver and glasswork can be seen at local artists’ fairs in the area as well.
Sandi’s crafting and artistic abilities are continuously developing. Presently, Sandi holds certification in Precious Metal Clay (PMC) from the Rio Grande Rewards Precious Metal Clay Program. Under the discipline of world‑renowned metal smith/PMC jewelry artist Tim McCreight, Sandi has incorporated all of her experiences and developed a beautifully unique style of jewelry making. Sandi has studied with professional coppersmith Frank Glapa at the Roy Croft Campus in East Aurora, NY where she learned techniques in Repousse. Sandi attended the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts where she studied the art of “lost wax casting.” Additionally, while visiting Arizona, Sandi met and learned from well‑known artisan Kate Drew‑Wilkinson, where she became familiar with the art of glass jewelry design. Still Sandi remains active, continuing her inspirations by studying with various artists in the area.
Sandi attributes her creative abilities to her mother and father. She remembers watching her mother make beautiful handcrafted quilts and needlework, and enjoyed being in the workshop while her dad refinished antique furniture and handcrafted his own wood pieces. Sandi is happily married and has two sons. She has recently started teaching at Artwork Around Town and at the Stifel Fine Arts Center where she is thrilled to share her abilities with others.
ARTWORKS around town is a nonprofit charitable and educational organization that operates a Gallery and Art Center for the benefit of the artists and general public of the region. ARTWORKS around town’s Mission is to: promote and encourage public interest in support of the arts, offer quality arts programming for all ages, and provide opportunities to display art work in a gallery setting for students of art as well as for accomplished artists in the local community and the region. The Gallery and Art Center is operated by The Board of Directors with assistance from artist associates and other volunteers from the local community and region. It depends for its financial support primarily on contributions, gifts and grants.
Artists may apply to be juried for exhibiting in the gallery. Through this jury process the Board of Directors considers artistic merit, content and craftsmanship as well as the applicant’s resonance with the Mission of the Gallery and Art Center, and the availability of space.
As a special feature, artists whose works are on display are found in the gallery as guides, providing interaction with visitors, and often opportunities to watch the creative process. These artist associates also support the mission of ARTWORKS around town by volunteering to help with office work and maintenance, teaching workshops, curating and hanging shows and many other aspects of the day-to-day functioning of the Gallery and Art Center.
The Gallery and Art Center is located at 2200 Market Street, in the Upper Market House of the Historic Centre Market Area.
