Gallery 54 artist to speak in NYC

Gallery 54 photographer/artist, Tom Dwyer, has accepted an invitation from the New York City Sierra Photo Club, to be the guest speaker at its October 21 meeting at the Lincoln Center in New York City.

"What an honor this is," Tom says,  "especially when I look at some of the great photographers who have been their speakers in the past." Last year's October speaker for example, was Roman Kurywczak. 

Other role model photographers who have spoken include well know Adirondack Photographer Carl Heilman II, Tony Sweet, Steve McMurray, Jennifer Wu and too many others to list here.

The subject of Tom's presentation is going to be "Seeing with an artist's eye." His presentation coincides with the opening, the next day, of the 2015 PhotoPlus Expo at the Javits Convention Center. 

Visitors are welcome, so if you plan on going to the PhotoPlus Expo or just happen to be in the city, why not stop by.

30 year journey arrives at Gallery 54

The Royal Raven

The artistic journey of Amy Bartell began some 30 years ago as a student on the shores of Lake Ontario. It was on the campus of SUNY Oswego that she was introduced to all things “art” and the mixed media approach to her art that she employs today. Eventually Amy would return to the Oswego campus where she currently teaches graphic design and illustration.

It's with this backdrop that Gallery 54, here, has invited Amy to be only its fifth Guest Artist of the 2015 season. Her show “Landings”, open Friday, September 4 from 5 – 8 pm and runs through September 29. Amy will showcase her series of “intimate and introspective bird portraits”. Her mixed media paintings employ the use of gouache, a thick, opaque watercolor medium, as well as pencil and more traditional watercolors.

Amy, who owns AE Originals, is also Assistant Gallery Director at SUNY Oswego. Her month-long exhibit at Gallery 54 will include original images as well as prints and notecards, all of which will be available for purchase.

Looking Back

The Friday, September 4 opening at Gallery 54 will provide the opportunity to meet Amy as well as to enjoy the music of Chris Molloy and his Electric Blue Harp. Light refreshments will be served. Gallery 54 is an upscale gallery of fine art and crafts, located at 54 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles, NY.

September gallery hours are Sunday through Thursday, 10-5 and Friday and Saturday, 10-6.
www.gallery54cny.com 315-685-5470.

A Rare Experience

Looking for a rare experience? Wendy Harris, the August featured artist at Gallery 54, here, is worthy of all your effort to the Skaneateles gallery during the month of August.

With a heritage dating back to her grandfather's paintings in the 1930s, Wendy creates her Plein Air pastels as well as mixed media paintings motivated by “The loss of the family farm, the collision of corporate interests and healthful agricultural practices and the shrinking landscape to urban sprawl,” she says.

Wendy’s award-winning paintings are nationally collected and internationally published. In her first exhibition she captured the Judge's Choice Award, and the awards have continued over the years “making her quite a treasure for our community,” according to Gallery 54.

"I’ve had no greater honor than being selected as the only painter (among more than 80) to receive the one painting commission from Upstate Medical Center’s new $74M Cancer Treatment Center,” Harris said recently.

Her work has been recognized as Best of Show at the Women Artists of the Finger Lakes in 2011; Country Living 2^nd place at the 4^th annual Northeast National Pastel Show inn Old Forge, NY; Outstanding Landscape Award at the 3^rd Northeast National Pastel Show, Old Forge, NY; First Place in the Plein Air contest at the Portage Hill Gallery, Westfield, NY; and the Judge's Choice at the Old Forge Art Center.

Opened July 2009, Gallery 54 is an artist owned and operated gallery. The member/owner artists are all local to the Finger Lakes/Central NY area and offer customers a wide variety of high-quality and unique fine art and fine craft, including paintings, mosaics, pottery, art quilts, jewelry, photography, stained glass, handbags, scarves, and more. More information on Gallery 54 and its upcoming artist shows is available at www.gallery54cny.com or by calling 315-685-5470.

Clayscapes potter joins Gallery 54

 Despite already being home to an impressive collection of pottery produced by established potters who have been part of Gallery 54, some since it was established in 2009, we were excited at the opportunity to welcome Syracuse's Clayscapes Pottery founder Don Seymour. His unique approach to pottery has been developed over 30 years and both Don and his work are respected throughout the clay community.

Don's been involved in everything from pottery material distribution to teaching classes and of course display and sale of finished work.

We hope you'll take time to visit Gallery 54 and enjoy Don's work . . . and perhaps add a piece or two to your collection.

John Fitzsimmons joins Gallery 54

One look at the paintings of John Fitzsimmons, recently hung at Gallery 54, and you know why the gallery reached-out to bring John and his work into the gallery.

The paintings you'll enjoy currently are not the standard grand landscape you might expect from a painter who self-describes as a figurative and landscape painter. Instead, you'll appreciate John's delicate touch with various elements that often only play supporting roles in a more traditional grand landscape.

A new selection of John Fitzsimmons paintings.

When John starts a painting he tends to have a strong visual idea, any changes tend to be reductive, where he removes elements and simplifies form and color. John says he like the hard, low winter light and heavy massed forms that the light has to fight its way around.

John says, "I am often uncomfortable with the images when I am done with the paintings but avoid reducing the tensions and conflicts which are important to the work. Often an idea is in my sketchbook for months or even years and I play with those ideas with more drawings or small paintings. 

John prefers painting in oil on plywood or Masonite panels and sometimes uses scribers and scrapers to incise lines, modify edges or add detail. 

"I feel that the painting has to have a life of its own and what is important once it leaves the studio, is that it resonates with the viewer," John says.

When you next visit the gallery, be sure to ask to see John's paintings.

"Famous Artist" visits Gallery 54

Saturday was a red letter day of sorts for Gallery 54. Unfortunately, at the time we really didn't know it.

As is common practice at Gallery 54, Kathy Schneider and I were engaging visitors as they arrived and perused our gallery. As we interacted with Jamie Treadwell, and a few other visitors who were with him, we didn't realize we were speaking with an internationally respected artist.

In the few minutes that we spent with Mr. Treadwell and his friends he focused our discussion on a unique family reunion that was underway in Skaneateles. He and 58 others from around the world were in Skaneateles for what he called the Lee Descendants Reunion . . . descendants of one Seth Lee. We took enough information to try and interest a local newspaper in their interesting story before they departed for the next stop on their visit to Skaneateles.

We did learn that Jamie Treadwell was currently from London and others from throughout the US. And, the reunion included four generations ranging from ages18 months to 94 years of age. Most had not even known of each other until research traced their respective ancestries to Skaneateles. Kathy and I thought it might be an interesting story of one of our local papers.

After the group departed, one man returned to tell us, referring to Jamie, "He's too humble to tell you this himself, but Jamie is a well known and accomplished artist. Look him up."

We quickly Googled his name and the first reference to come up included a photo that was that of  the Jamie Treadwell who had been in our gallery moments earlier. We clicked on "about art" and discovered that we had missed an opportunity to introduce ourselves to an interesting artist in his own right. Take a look for yourselves... Jamie Treadwell.