Artists of CCV – Student Art Exhibit

The Community College of Vermont presents it’s Spring 2012 student art exhibit “Artists of CCV” at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Bennington on Friday May 11 with an opening reception from 5-7 pm. Featured in the show are students’ work from CCV’s Portfolio Development class. This semester marks the first time the class was taught in Bennington. The seven students, Pat Hall, Ashley Bump, Zach Herring, Hollye Johnson, Jolene Dooley, Nathan Jeandell and Chris Dayton spent the semester engaged with the many aspects of an art career under the instruction of teacher and artist, Valerie Carrigan. The course involved scholarship and art school applications, website development, art career research, resume building, artist statements and studio time. Many of the original works displayed will be for sale. The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship is located at 108 School St. in Bennington, VT. Please contact CCV at (802) 447-2361 for any additional information.

Point of View

As an artist-in-residence at Bascom Lodge on Mount Greylock this past summer, I was given the gift of time and of views. In addition to a series of pastel drawings, I also recently completed a new artist book based on my time there. This book, created in watercolor, can be viewed from both front and back, offering two distinct vantage points from the mountain top. I would like to credit the pivoting panel structure of this book to Hedi Kyle, a great mentor to me.

 

Tree of Hope: Bennington Museum Festival of Trees

The Community College of Vermont, where I teach as an art instructor, was recently invited to participate in the Bennington Museum Festival of Trees. In collaboration with a colleague, Janet Groom, some local enthusiasts, and a classroom of watercolor students, we made it happen. Of course this would be no ordinary holiday tree. Instead of the lovely evergreen, I pulled a sparse tree from my backyard that had been blown over during Hurricane Irene.  Students painted and folded paper butterflies which made their way to the branches of our wintry tree. A bowl of smaller paper butterflies was placed next to the tree in the museum, encouraging visitors to write down a hope they might have for the future. In the aftermath of Hurricane Irene and its devastating effect on area residents, we wanted this tree to lift the spirits of those who saw it. Like the throwing of a coin into a wishing well, those who wrote a message on a paper butterfly were given a chance to voice their hopes for themselves, for others, for the world.

 

The Eva Project

I have come from a long line of remarkable women, beginning with my great-grandmother Eva Pluta, who fled from Poland to America at the age of sixteen.  Eva gave birth to my grandmother Sophie. Then came my mother, then my sister and me.  I in turn have been blessed with two young children, one of whom is a girl.  Her name is Eva Rae; Eva to honor my great-grandmother and Rae in honor of my sister Julie Rae.  By giving her this name I hoped to instill in her the strength of the women she has come from.

 

With the exception of me and my daughter, all the women I have mentioned are gone. Not from my memory but far from my touch. The Eva Project is a way to keep their spirits alive.

I have worked these past few years in gathering photographs and beginning small studies in graphite. These drawings represent the beginning of The Eva Project. As the project progresses, the drawings will be translated into mezzotints with accompanying stories, and the voices of these women will live on.

The Italy Series

Color

 My watercolor students are making this chart to learn the fundamentals of color. While this may be tedious to some, this exercise offers me total relaxation. Color is an amazing thing.

The Mount Greylock Drawings