Arts on Main

Community Arts Center in Gloucester, Virginia

March 2023 First Friday: “Between Layers” by Rose Nygaard & Aprille Zammit

March 2023 First Friday: “Between Layers” by Rose Nygaard & Aprille Zammit

Friday, March 3

6:00pm – 8:00pm

Sponsored by  Dr. Lourdes & Don Parker
and
Dr. Maricel Quintana Baker & Professor Kenneth Baker

 

During the month of March, Arts on Main will host a collaborative exhibit, “Between Layers,” featuring artwork by grandmother and granddaughter duo, Rose Nygaard & Aprille Zammit. The opening of the exhibit will take place at our First Friday event on Friday, March 3rd from 6:00pm-8:00pm. The show will run from March 3rd thru April 2nd.

Between Layers

The potent smell of acrylics and oils swirls together in a light-drenched studio, scattered with all colours imaginable…… Mexican music envelopes the room creating the lightness of a dance floor……… A space where it felt possible to create anything your imagination dreamt up…… Every summer Aprille got to step into that space of endless possibilities with her grandmother Rose.

“Between Layers” is the first time the two artists are showing a collection of work together. Rose is an abstract expressionist painter and printmaker. Inspired by colour, she builds layers upon layers of it in her paintings, monoprints, and collages. Rose graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from The American University in Washington, DC. Aprille is a multidisciplinary creative, with her two main mediums being film photography and screen printing. Inspired by nature, with reverence to the sea and capturing unnoticed moments of light. Aprille graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.

For this collaboration, Aprille travelled from her studio in Malta, Europe, to Gloucester, Virginia in 2022 to spend three weeks creating work together with Rose. “Between Layers” is a body of work in which the two artists played off each other’s different styles and backgrounds of working. Rose begins with colour, and Aprille begins with composition. Both artists layer the two to make their work. Rose and Aprille hope the work will ignite joy and lightness in the viewer.

 

Rose Nygaard
“I always begin my work with one colour which I then react to with the next colour and continue in this way. I have been using Acrylic paints for the last thirty years. I use Golden and Liquitex most of the time. I love the Transparent colors.  Mixing some of these colors make very beautiful unusual colors, adding black or white will make the colors opaque.
I began my work without preparation; not knowing the outcome. It becomes a challenge to make it become a painting that I have not seen before. It is a challenge that I love. Creating a piece of Art, for me, is a way open for self-expression, and learning more about my likes and dislikes. It gives me visual language.”

 

Aprille Zammit
“The collaboration is the result of a bond created throughout the past 25 years. From a young age, I have always been an observer in my grandmother’s studio. Through film photography I began capturing moments in her process of making, watching her getting lost in a world of colour. This inspired me to do the same. Together with my grandmother we would critique her works, highlight areas that worked and others that didn’t. Pieces were cropped from within the painting to create other compositions, which at times required starting afresh over a “clean canvas” and often resulting in a multi-layered application. In this collaboration, I layered my work on top of her paintings to represent a continuum of her approach. I extracted elements forming the composition or the landscape of Rose’s art pieces and formed a symbiotic expression by layering the extractions in the form of lines and shapes onto the original art piece. Acrylic pens as well as the screen printing process were utilized to produce the work.”

 

Live music will be provided by Something Different Duo (Brad Sindle & Ashley Wenner). This father/daughter duo who have been performing together since 2013 at public and private events. Check out their website to learn more about them: Somethingdifferntduo.com

 

First Friday is on March 3rd  from 6:00pm-8:00pm. This event is free and open to the public.  Light refreshments will be provided. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

Thank you to our Monthly Exhibit Sponsors, Dr. Lourdes & Don Parker and Dr. Maricel Quintana Baker & Professor Kenneth Baker!

January 2023 First Friday: “Considerations” by Jim Black

January 2023 First Friday

featuring

“Considerations” by Jim Black

Friday, January 6

6:00pm-8:00pm

Sponsored by Larry and Tenley Raithel

 

       

During the month of January 2023, Art on Main will exhibit “Considerations” by Jim Black. The opening for the show will take place on Friday, January 6 from 6pm-8pm. The exhibit will be on display until Saturday, January 28.

About the Artist

Abstract painter Jim Black is a native of North Carolina who has resided in the Richmond area since the 1980s. He completed his BFA in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2003. He has exhibited his work in local Richmond galleries as well as through internet venues. His work is part of numerous private and corporate collections in Virginia, Florida, Chicago, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and California.  He describes his art as an on-going exploration of tension and ambiguity. His paintings consist of multiple layers which emphasize worked surfaces and spontaneous drawing. His intent is for each piece to have a strong visual presence and a ragged eloquence.  The work offers the viewer a possibility of a personal “visual experience.”

Live music will be provided by Harris Creekers out of Hampton, VA. 

The opening of this exhibit will be on Friday, January 6 from 6pm-8pm. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

Thank you to our First Friday Sponsors, Larry and Tenley Raithel!

Opening for 2022 Annual Juried Exhibition

2022 Annual Juried Show
Friday, October 7th
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Sponsored by Will & Tish Grant

 

Join us for our Annual Juried Exhibition! The opening for the exhibit will take place on October 7th from 6pm-8pm. The show will be on display until October 29th.

The following artists will be featured in the

2022 Annual Juried Show Exhibit:

Gulay Berryman

Joy Black

Anne Brooks

Bob Carlson

George Cramer

Ellen DeMaria

Carolyn Thompson Dudley

Mary Ellis

Holland Wentz Etheridge

Dolores M. Flessner

Elizabeth Flint

Michele Garrigan

Karyn Gallion

Rebecca Grow

Patrice Hobbs

William Hoffman

Mary Ellen Huennekens

James Warwick Jones

Joann Sybil Lawson

Gayle Barbara Merrill

Mel Neale

Ian Pearce

Peg Poole

Juli Schuszler

Karen Schwartz

Mary-Montague Sikes

Janet Southard

E. Sue Sprague

Georgia Sprague

Theresa Wells Stifel

Brenda M. Sylvia

Sarah Wicker

Winners will be announced at the opening. The following prizes will be awarded:

First Place: $800 and a future solo show at Arts on Main
 Second Place: $500

 Third Place: $250

 

Matt Lively

Matt Lively is this year’s Juror and Judge. Lively is a sculptor, painter, and muralist living in Richmond, Virginia. He has designed installations, worked on films, and illustrated books. Lively tries to let his work be defined more by an openness to new ideas and opportunities than by working solely in one particular medium. His success over 25 years is a result of learning through mistakes combined with the collective wisdom of others. Collaborating with other passionate people always presents new avenues to explore that Lively believes he would never be able to experience working on his own. Lively makes images that suggest a story without a beginning or end. Learning to stop before the piece reveals too much is the most delicate aspect of his process. When not in his studio, Lively can be found teaching at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Studio School.

 

Live music will be provided by the Clan MacCool Band. 

Clan MacCool is a highly interactive band that specializes in Irish/Scottish traditional music. They offer an array of Celtic traditional (and not so traditional) songs, tunes, and reels. Pulling from old Celtic music, sea chanties and our own music over the course of nearly two decades, Clan MacCool continues to entertain, educate and enthrall!

 

The opening will take place on Friday, October 7th from 6:00pm-8:00pm. This event is free and open to the public. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

Thank you to our sponsors, Will & Tish Grant!

November First Friday featuring 2021 Gloucester Arts Festival Winners: Daniel Robbins and John Brandon Sills

November First Friday
featuring
2021 Gloucester Arts Festival Winners: Daniel Robbins and John Brandon Sills
Friday, November 4
6:00pm-8:00pm

Sponsored by Gail & Rick Griffin

During the month of November, Arts on Main will be showcasing works by the winners of the 2021 Gloucester Arts Festival Winners: Daniel Robbins and John Brandon Sills. The opening of the show will take place at First Friday on Friday, November 4 from 6:00pm-8:00pm. The show will remain in the gallery through Saturday, November 26.

 Daniel Robbins grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia and always wanted to create art. During grades 4-8 he was enrolled in the Old Donation Center for the Gifted and Talented, and in high school he continued his study of art at the Governor’s School for the Arts. He moved to Richmond, VA to study in the Communication Arts department at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), which is ranked as one of the top art schools in the country. While at VCU he received multiple awards for his artistic and academic achievement, including: Most Outstanding Junior and Senior in Communication Arts, Dean’s List, and a scholarship from the New York Society of Illustrators’ Student Competition.

After he received his B.F.A. in 2006, Daniel started to teach drawing and painting as an adjunct faculty member in the Communication Arts department at VCU. He has also exhibited his paintings in galleries in New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Charleston, Boston, Maryland, and Park City, Utah. Daniel has received numerous honors and awards including: Award of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition; Best in Show at the “Virginia Artists Juried Exhibition,” in Hampton, VA; Virginia’s Finest Artist at the “Boardwalk Art Festival,” in Virginia Beach, VA; Best in Show at the Gloucester Plein Air Festival and Richmond Plein Air Festival; Artist’s Choice Award at “Plein Air Easton; and he wrote “The Road Not Taken” for the Artists on Art publication. He was also named as one of “21 Under 31” artists to collect by Southwest Art Magazine and “10 Artists to Collect Now: The Emerging Plein Air Painters You Need to Know” by Plein Air Magazine. Daniel Robbins continues to live and work in Richmond, Virginia.

“I needed to get away. For the fist time in years I felt aimless in my artistic pursuits. I was giving everything I could to raising my one-and-a-half year old daughter and caring for my wife who suffered a debilitating pelvic fracture during childbirth. The plein air and observational paintings I had been making for the last ten years were no longer relevant to me. I had changed, and my roles as father and caretaker kept me at home and constantly busy. I couldn’t have successfully worked en plein air even if I wanted to – it was too calm, too grounded, and too logistically inconvenient.

I needed to go home. I needed to understand this journey I was on as a husband and father. My wife, daughter and I packed our bags and drove to my parent’s house near the ocean. I had recently made a few oil sketches at the beach that were exciting me, but I was looking for something else, something more. The first morning at my parents’ house
I woke up at 4:30am. I packed my camera and tripod and made the twenty-five minute commute to the oceanfront. The sun was just beginning to rise as I walked through the heavy dunes that lined the beach. Slowly the wooden boardwalk gave way to sand. I took off my shoes and felt the cool sand under my feet. I could see up and down the beach for miles. There was no one around. I was alone.

No trees, buildings or power lines cluttered or obstructed the perspective. I saw the horizon and looked into infinity. The wind pushed me sideways and peppered me with sand as the sun beckoned me forward. I could have stopped at any moment and basked in the incredible expanse of sky and clouds if not for the faint rumbling of the ocean. The thin strip of blue-gray swelled as I drew nearer. The waves smashed and crumbled into
one another as the wind scooped the foam and threw it around. Salt spray filled my lungs while the waves crashed and slid towards me. The sand was barely in view now, but glimpsed after each wave receded. The sun peaked over the clouds, just above the horizon, and I met its gaze. My vision was full. I took out my camera, opened the lens to its widest possible angle and hit “Record”.

I couldn’t wait to tell my wife and daughter what I had discovered. Through video, I could take that experience home and paint it without needing to stay on site. The sound and movement would add to my memory to provide a fuller picture. But that was merely
practical. I had wanted to get away so I returned to my childhood home. But as I stood on the beach staring at the spectacle of the sun, sky, and ocean I felt a separation, a longing. I wanted to pull it all towards me and wrap myself in it, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t get closer to the sun without being burned and couldn’t navigate the waves without being swallowed. I was as close as I could be. This realization turned me toward a rejuvenating light I could hold: my daughter. I was recharged.

It is difficult to describe the loss of experiential elements when viewing a personal, lived event – especially one that is transformational – through a screen. The recording feels thin compared to the exhilaration we experience in the moment. But without the recording we would only have our memories, which dim and lose nuance over time. And a recorded experience can be replayed countless times in order to prolong and further understand the moment of transformation. Prolong the memory in order to relive it. In my work I seek to understand this relationship.”

 

John Brandon Sills received his BA In Fine Art at Towson State University in 1984, while a student at Towson State John studied Renaissance Art in Florence, Italy. John then attended the Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore, Maryland, graduating in 1988. His paintings are in numerous collections in the United States as well as collections in Canada, England, France, Jamaica, Grand Cayman B.W.I. and Australia.

John has won many awards including First place in the 2010 and 2012 Have De Grace Plein Air Competition. First place in the 2013 Paint Annapolis Plein Air Competition. Best Painting by a Maryland Artist Award in the prestigious Plein Air Easton Competition in 2010 and 2012, Artist’s Choice Award in 2011 and in 2014 John was the Plein Air Easton Grand Prize winner. In addition, John received the Award of Excellence in the 2014 Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational. John was the 3rd place winner in the Plein Air Easton Competition. John paints nature in all its forms, choosing to emphasize those aspects that create an awareness of the environment.

John has won many awards including First place in the 2010 and 2012 Have De Grace Plein Air Competition. First place in the 2013 Paint Annapolis Plein Air Competition. Best Painting by a Maryland Artist Award in the prestigious Plein Air Easton Competition in 2010 and 2012, Artist’s Choice Award in 2011 and in 2014 John was the Plein Air Easton Grand Prize winner. In addition, John received the Award of Excellence in the 2014 Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational. John was the 3rd place winner in the Plein Air Easton Competition. John paints nature in all its forms, choosing to emphasize those aspects that create an awareness of the environment.

“Art is a spiritual experience expressed.

This is the essence of all of my painting; everything I do is intended to demonstrate this concept. We speak of an artist’s inspiration; well inspiration comes from the Latin “inspititus” which means “in the spirit”. I am trying to communicate a spiritual experience through painting. Art is not a “thing”, rather it is an experience that is expressed, that is “pushed out” in the physical as painting, sculpture, poetry, film, music, etc., so painting is not “Art” it is an expression of “Art”.

My painting, the landscapes in particular, are my attempt to communicate to the viewer my perception of the world around me, which I see as an expression of Divinity. Landscape, not as creation of God, rather as manifestation of God, I paint the face of the eternal. What I wish my painting to do is assist the viewer is expanding their own conception of the spiritual to include truths that at first seem impossible. As an artist I use everyday images to ask the question “What is Reality”. I put forth the conception that what we see is the facade of Reality, that Truth is an internal experience outwardly expressed.

When someone sees my paintings, I would like them to take these concepts and try to apply them to their own experience, so that when they see a beautiful landscape themselves maybe they too will see the face of God.”

Live music will be provided by Micah Foxx.

Micah Foxx is an American singer-songwriter based out of Coastal Virginia. Foxx is primarily known for his work in the folk, jam band and acoustic pop genres. In 2011, he achieved commercial success with the release of his debut album, Love. Foxx has performed solo and with his band, Crimson Foxx, at The Sandler Center, The National, Union Stage and The Tin Pan. 

First Friday is on November 4 from 6:00pm-8:00pm. This event is free and open to the public. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

Thank you to our First Friday Sponsors, Gail & Rick Griffin!

August First Friday: Nautical Group Show featuring Jason Abbott, Margaret Benton Jones, Al Latorre, Morgan McKinney, Norris Padgett III, Jeff Satterthwaite, and James Timberlake

Nautical Group Show
featuring
Jason Abbott, Margaret Benton Jones, Al Latorre, Morgan McKinney, Norris Padgett III, Jeff Satterthwaite, and James Timberlake
Friday, August 5
6:00pm-8:00pm

Sponsored by Lori & Mike Dershowitz

During the month of August, Arts on Main will host a nautical themed group show featuring local and regional artists: Jason Abbott, Margaret Benton Jones, Al Latorre, Morgan McKinney, Norris Padgett III, Jeff Satterthwaite, and James Timberlake. The opening of the show will take place on First Friday, August 5 from 6pm-8pm. This is a free event and open to the public. The show will be on display from August 5- August 27.

 

Jason Abbott

“My inspiration comes from the natural beauty around me. Living in the tidewater region of Virginia, I have the luxury of experiencing the constantly changing light and water conditions. My paintings range from realism to impressionism depending on the subject and technique.”

     

Margaret Benton Jones is a Yorktown artist who grew up in the Tidewater area. She knew painting was what she wanted to do and even built an art studio before ever picking up a paint brush after retiring as an Operating Room Nurse. Her primary medium is acrylic where she enjoys all subjects from sailboats to sunflowers. She has a unique way of expressing her passion for life on canvas using bright colors and bold brush strokes.

     

Al Latorre

“I paint in oils on canvas, my art represents my past, present, and merely subjects that I am drawn to such as, landscapes, seascapes of Virginia and other places I have resided or visited.

Although by trade, I was a Graphic Designer and had formal training in Visual Communications from Northeastern University, I am primarily self-taught in oil painting, I feel I have been blessed with an eye to paint pleasing, peaceful scenes we can all relate to. I have been painting for over 40 years primarily in oils and watercolors.”

     

Morgan McKinney is a painter of Contemporary Impressionism living in Richmond, Virginia. His distinctive style is influenced by a career as a graphic artist, a years long search for bright, vivid, saturated color, and a love/hate relationship with OCD. Painting full time since 2003, his quest for these vibrant colors led to the evolution of a unique approach. It involves painting individual segments with solid colors which have been premixed on the pallet, not blended and muddied on the canvas. Although slow and tedious, the distinct separation and purity of all colors and gradations, along with the impactful use of contrast and light, result in an almost mosaic, crystalline composition. His oil paintings, inspired by the love of sailing and architecture, are praised for evoking feelings of calmness and tranquility. “I want viewers to step into my paintings for a brief moment, pause, and experience light, color, and serenity the way I see it,” says McKinney. “No deep contemplation required.”

     

Norris Padgett III is a well-known Southern artist working in many media: watercolor, acrylic, pastels, oils and wood. His work is represented in many private collections and galleries in the southeast. Norris grew up loving everything nautical and it remains a stronger passion today to paint a bygone time expressed through rich color and limitless imagination.

Jeff Satterthwaite

“I am a Creative Retoucher who has over thirty years of industry experience working with distinguished Art Directors, Designers, & Photographers around the globe. I currently call Richmond, Virginia my home. I have lived and worked in the Metropolitan cities of Ft. Lauderdale, New Orleans, St. Louis, Charlotte, Toronto and New York. I have been fortunate to learn and work alongside some of the most talented, and acknowledged Creatives in our industry, and our combined talents have allowed me to create contemporary art and advertising that move markets. Our combined artistry consistently serves as visual waypoints to increase monetary reward in our changing economy. My personal successes have been featured in PDN, Archive, Graphics and Photoshop Creative UK.”

     

James Timberlake

“The finest compliment I could receive is for a group of people to see a painting of mine and each person has a completely different interpretation, with no two people seeing the same thing. That is what I set out to achieve through my work. After taking a break for several years, it is good to creating again. Making abstract paintings is an emotional experience for me. Each piece comes from my heart and imagination- getting to share that with others brings me great satisfaction.

I started painting later in life while in my mid-fifties, inspired by my surroundings in an art community in Richmond, VA and by many artists that I worked around daily. A special thanks to Matt Lively, who just by being a neighbor and friend, helped guide me through the basics. Matt gave me the opportunity to help him in his studio, which is where I received the very best education.

I love using oil on wood panels and canvas to create abstract artwork. I especially love the many layers of colors in each painting.  I take the time to allow each layer to dry and then repeat the process. Sometimes, the process takes much patience and time, at other times the painting is produced more quickly. The key is to know when to stop. Once a painting has a depressed or aged appearance, I feel the ultimate pleasure and know that the piece is finished.”

Live music will be provided by Jerry Sowers.

Jerry Sowers is an acoustic singer-songwriter from Newport News, VA. Singing and playing music from the age of 14, he continues to sing traditional as well as original folk music. Audiences enjoy not only his music, but his ability in keeping them both engaged and entertained with song subjects that range from humorous to serious social concerns.
Throughout his career, Jerry has performed in coffee house venues as well as larger auditoriums in several states up and down the East Coast, Ohio and in Michigan. His first CD, ‘Simple and Free’, was recorded and published in 2009 with a balanced mix of original songs and covers.

Jerry’s full-time occupation is teaching music in the Hampton City Schools system, where he has worked with children of all ages to inspire music and creativity in our youth. He also leads the music program in a local Methodist Church in Hampton, VA. Jerry’s two sons and three grandchildren are the pride and joy in his life.

First Friday will take place on Friday, August 5 from 6:00pm-8:00pm. This event is free and open to the public. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.

Thank you to our First Friday sponsor, Lori & Mike Dershowitz!

 

June 2022 First Friday: “Plumb: Sphagnum Moss as Ecosystem Engineer” by Anne Yoncha

June 2022 First Friday
“Plumb: Sphagnum Moss as Ecosystem Engineer” by Anne Yoncha
Friday, June 3
6:00pm-8:00pm

 

Arts on Main will host “Plumb: Sphagnum Moss as Ecosystem Engineer” by Anne Yoncha from June 3- June 11.  “Plumb” is based on an art-science collaboration that began as a Fulbright fellowship in 2019. Visual artists can make work which illuminates complex and often hidden ecological relationships – in this case, literally hidden underground. Join us for the opening of this exhibit for First Friday on June 3 from 6:00pm-8:00pm.

 

         

“I collaborate with ecologists at the Natural Resources Institute Finland to explore peatland – a rare type of ecosystem where Sphagnum moss slowly decomposes and creates an anaerobic, water-logged desert where only it can survive and thrive. In this way, the plant is a plumber, and an engineer, similar to us! Many of the works in this show explore the physiology of Sphagnum – how cells can expand to hold 20 times their weight in water, how the plants weave together to form a mat, and sometimes create an artificial water table. I piece together hand-made paper from plants at our study site, digitally altered photos of the site, and laser cuts from microscope images of Sphagnum, to create not-quite-flat paintings I call “peat quilts”.

Peatland is a valuable carbon sink and climate data preserver. It’s also a source of local fuel and jobs for Finnish people. However, peatland can’t be grown fast enough or regenerated after extraction – so we are left with a problem of how to deal with these altered, or “novel”, ecosystems. I hope this close look at a faraway ecosystem we have forever altered can provide some insight on how we can deal with post-human landscapes closer to home. Like a quilt, all our ecological systems are connected.” – Anne Yoncha

 

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Anne Yoncha (US) is Assistant Professor of Art at East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma. Born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware, she earned her MFA at the University of Montana and recently completed a Fulbright fellowship at the Natural Resources Institute Finland, working with restorationists to make collaborative art-science work about former peat extraction sites outside Oulu. Her practice combines digital sensing technology, such as bio-data sonification, and analog, traditional processes including painting with ink she makes from locally-sourced plant matter. Her ongoing research with the HAB (High Altitude Bioprospecting) working group began in Fall 2019 at Field_Notes, a residency of Finland’s Bio Art Society at Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in subarctic Lapland, where she worked with artists, biologists, and programmers to attempt to detect high-altitude microbes using a heli-kite. Tree Talk, her temporary site-specific installation sonifying invisible processes within a stand of Ponderosa pines, was selected as the 2018 Emerging Artist project at Blackfoot Pathways Sculpture in the Wild in Lincoln, Montana. She has also been awarded residencies at Cedar Point Biological Station in Ogallala, Nebraska, and Flathead Lake Biological Station in Polson, Montana. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, notably at the CICA Museum in South Korea, Finland’s Art Ii Biennial, the Budapest Environmental Project, and Codex Foundation’s international artistic exploration “Extraction: Art on the Edge of Abyss”. Outside the studio she can often be found doing another kind of environmental “research” via bicycle.

Live music will be provided by Harris Creekers out of Hampton, VA. 

First Friday is on June 3 from 6:00pm-8:00pm. This event is free and open to the public. Beer and wine will be available for purchase.