Ceramics Take Over Wheeling ’25

        Artworks is pleased to be part of Oglebay Institute’s Ceramics Takeover, 2025.  For the third year, the Gallery will host a guest artist in the Studio Gallery.  West Virginia native, Jen Gandee will be exhibiting and selling her ceramic pieces for the remainder of February and all of March, 2025.

A reception will open the show, today, Friday, February 21 from 5:30-8 p.m. at Artworks.  The party is free and open to the public.

      Gandee grew up in West Virginia.  In 1996, she earned a BFA in Ceramics, followed by an MFA from Syracuse University’s College of Visual and Performing Arts in 2008.  During this time period, she developed a line of functional ceramic work which was sold widely at national craft shows, gallery venues and studio sales.  She is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Art at LeMoyne College and Cayuga Community College.  She owns the Gandee Gallery in Fabius.

       On her Gallery’s website, she states,  “When working as a potter, I want to create objects that are useful and enhance domestic life”. Her pots are generally thrown and hand built with a slab of porcelain clay. After an initial bisque firing, she glazes the pieces and fires them to 2260 degrees F.  She selects her subjects from her own photographs, which she manipulates digitally.  These images are put onto special decal paper refining them with a laser printer.

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Artworks to feature “New Members” at December Gallery Hop

Artworks around town is proud to present the work of two new members.  Gary Pastor and Marisa Henrickson were juried into Artworks during 2024.  Meet them at a festive Gallery Hop on Friday, December 6 at 5:30 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

Gary Pastor works in wood, producing beautiful pieces both decorative and functional.  He uses the Lichtenberg Technique of electrified fracking.  This process leaves a lightning like pattern in the wood and enhances the designs he carves.  Benches, tables, serving pieces and decorative wall hangings complete his offerings.  He states, “I have been working with wood for many years.  I love taking a raw piece of wood and turning it into a work of art”. 

Marisa Henrickson is a Fine Art Photographer who has been working in her field for 30 years.  Her portfolio features nature scenes, waterfalls, Amish life, horses, country scenes, still life and Ragdoll cats.   She has a B.S. degree from LaRoche University and a degree from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Henrickson has exhibited at Oglebay Institute’s Stifel Fine Art Center.  She has had an image selected for the permanent display at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, Pa depicting the emotional toll that nursing home window visits had during the COVID pandemic on the residents and families in nursing homes across the country.Artworks around town is a non profit fine art center dedicated to serving the public and is located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market.  Hours are 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. from Monday through Saturday.

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“Wings” by Rachel Edinger at Artworks in July

Artworks welcomes emerging portrait artist, Rachel Edinger for the month of July, 2024.  Her show titled “Wings” opens on Friday the 5th with a free reception from 5:30-8 p.m. in the Gallery at Artworks Around Town.  All are welcome to meet the artist and see her amazing paintings.

Edinger is an alumna of West Virginia Governor’s School of the Arts and The Linsly School.  She will be attending West Virginia University in the fall as a Bucklew Scholarship recipient to study Art and Design.

Focusing on portraiture in oil on canvas, her works are heavily inspired by bright patterns, intriguing expressions and personalities, vibrant flora and fauna and surrealist ideas.  She has a passion for Appalachian culture and history.  Her Artist Statement states, “My compositions are intentionally busy and aim to inspire the movement of the viewer’s eye-something that I feel represents the vibrancy and eccentricity of West Virginian culture.”

Edinger is spending the summer painting in her studio at home.  She is working on an illustrative commission for custom wallpaper.  Winning best in show at Oglebay Institute’s’ Regional Art Exhibition for Students, she has also been published in YNST Arts and Culture Magazine.  She enjoys collecting vintage clothing, purusing antique stores and spending time in nature.  Her work can be found on instagram @innervisage.

Artworks Around Town is a non profit fine arts center serving the community.  Located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market, the Gallery is open six days a week, Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.

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Artworks Hosts “The Purple Crow Murder” in June

June’s show at Artworks Around Town is titled “The Purple Crow Murder”.  Whenever crows gather, the group is referred to as a “murder”and Jeff Mamone’s Purple Crow Studio is where art is created.  Mystery solved.  The exhibit at the Gallery features four artists from the area; Susan Dorsch, Jeri DeLong, Anne Foreman and Jeff Mamone.  A free public reception will open the show on Friday, June 7 from 5:30-8 p.m.

All four artists bring multiple talents to the show.  While some are known for their particular specialties, this exhibit showcases their other skills as well.  Susan Dorsch has been carving birds in exquisite detail for many years but she is also an accomplished painter. Jeri DeLong has carved and painted gourds and she, as well, has created beautiful paintings. Anne Foreman is known for her dog paintings but has branched out into cat portraiture for this show.  Jeff Mamone can do anything and do it well.  He makes jewelry out of found items, hammering, heating, bending and embellishing them into one of a kind pieces of jewelry.  He also treats his photographs with layers of ink and paint, creating unique effects.

Three of the artists have taught school for a combined total of over 100 years.  Jeri DeLong’s career spanned 36 years and included teaching 4th and 6th grades as well as students with learning disabilities. She has been interested in art since she was in high school but took time out to raise a family.  Her interest in gourds began about 20 years ago when she was asked by a friend to paint an image on a gourd.  After taking classes from Bonnie Gibson, she learned how to carve and burn images into the surface of the dried gourds.

Susan Dorsch also taught for 36 years.  Her wood carvings are exquisite and accurate in every detail.  While most are of birds, she has created other creatures and even makes many of the “props” her birds sit on out of Tupelo wood.  Some of the supports are fashioned out of driftwood pieces that she finds.  Susan also paints and creates collages.  She especially likes working in mixed media.

Foreman returned to her artwork after she raised her six children.  Asked to illustrate a local author’s book opened the door for her to return to her sidelined passion.  She liked drawing as a child and falls back on that medium whenever she needs a rest from color work.  Sister Cecilia taught art at Mount de Chantal Visitation Academy and Anne feels the nun’s classic atelier style approach to instruction was largely responsible for instilling in her a solid foundation in the basics.  She has recently specialized in pet portraiture and her works can be found in homes all over the nation. 

Jeff Mamone is still teaching.  He is in his 37th year currently instructing students at Belmont College in restoration and preservation skills. These classes include wood, plaster and ceramic work.  His students have gone on to work in specialized areas of preservation all over the country.  Previously, he taught art and wood shop in public schools in Ohio.  Mamone has been creating things all his life, beginning his journey by making cartoons as a child.  He makes original works through constant experimentation using metals, glass, wax and oil paints.

Artworks Around Town is a non profit fine art organization dedicated to serving the community.  Located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market, the Gallery is open six days a week from Monday to Saturday from 10 am until 5:30 pm.  For information about Artworks and programs offered, consult the website: artworksaroundtown.com.

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Marvelous March Happenings at Artworks

ARTWORKS around town will be” hopping” the month of March

A varied array of artists will bring their work to the Gallery with a festive reception on March 1, 2024.  The traditional First Friday Hop takes place from 5:30-8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

James Luke, Jonathan Walsh and Bellaire High School art students will have work in both guest galleries at Artworks.  Aaron Anslow joins us to demonstrate his clay skills on a wheel, Saturday March 2nd from 10:30-1 in the north Gallery.  This event is free and all are welcome.  James Luke will cover the walls with images of outer space.  His show, titled “Celestial Captures, A Journey Through Astrophotography by James Luke”, promises to be even more spectacular than his last exhibit.   Ceramist Jonathan Walsh represents Oglebay Institute’s Ceramics Takeover with his pieces of clay art.  Bellaire High School students who attended workshops led by Aaron Anslow will have their clay pieces on display as well.

James Luke got his first telescope when he was 11 years old.  It was to be followed by upgrading to an Orion 10-inch dobsonian telescope and web camera in 2012.  He has participated in  many presentations and talks on astrophotography and has had some of his best pieces published.

Jonathan Walsh has been a teacher for 20 years, the last 12 instructing students in ceramics at Parkersburg High School.  His work has been accepted into 14 regional juried shows, 2 national juried shows, community, two person, and individual shows as well and winning awards in a few of them.

Bellaire High School art students, under the direction of instructor, Megan Ritchea, will be exhibiting their efforts in clay work.  Aaron Anslow spent weeks at the school as artist in residence, instructing the students in pottery wheel skills, hand building drills, texture carving and glazing techniques. Anslow is a well known artist who currently teaches ceramics and sculpture at West Liberty University and owns and operates Earthsmith Studio in Bethany, West Virginia.  He has shown work internationally in China, nationally in the Strictly Functional juried Exhibition and in Clay Times Magazine.

ARTWORKS around town is a non profit fine art  and education center dedicated to serving the people of the area.  Open six days a week from 10 a.m until 5:30 p.m., the Gallery is located in Wheeling’s Historic Centre Market.  Artworks sponsors workshops, some ongoing and some by demand. Visit the desk or go online to see opportunities, updates and to apply for membership in the Gallery:  http://www.artworksaroundtown.org

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