Featured Artist Archive

Kathleen Stoltzfus

Posted by on Jun 30, 2011 in Featured Artist Archive | 0 comments

Featured Artist /  First Friday, July 1, 2011 / “Flights of Fancy” Exhibit

What is normal, anyway?

“Nobody can be exactly like me. Even I have trouble doing it.” ~Tallulah Bankhead

What does normal mean? Average, run-of-the-mill, common? Or getting along, fitting in? According to Webster, it is ”conforming to the standard or the common type; …regular; …approximately average.”
It seems to me that thinking and doing things the way most people do is probably the easy road - unless, you just aren’t wired that way. Then it chafes like ill-fitting shoes. But while not conforming to the standard might be a good fit for you, it sure does make a lot of the people around you darned uncomfortable. Most folks don’t much like different. They don’t know what to do with it or about it. Different doesn’t fit neatly into a box – at least not one that they have.
For awhile I figured my idiosyncrasies were just youth. And gradually came to the point where I decided it was time to “grow up” and be normal, fit in, meet expectations (you know, like getting a real coffeepot). But those shoes just didn’t fit. The sculpture with this post is one of the first that I did after I began making art again. It was soon after I moved here, real close to my family. Feeling the pressure to conform, it was my attempt to illustrate the desire to break free of both external and internal expectations and limitations, while at the same time celebrating the very things that can hold us back if we allow them.
And so I have come to the point where I can just smile* when people ask me “how do you think of these things?” – meaning my art – and think to myself, “how can you not?”.
*Although inside I cringe because, after all, who likes having to justify the way their brain works?

 

Kathleen

 

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Marc C. Daniels

Posted by on May 26, 2011 in Featured Artist Archive | 0 comments

Featured Artist /  First Friday, June 3, 2011 / The Taste of Summer” Exhibit

Autobiographical sketch:

It was probably dumb luck or good fortune back in 1978 when I bought Ralph Mayer’s fourth edition of The Artist’s Handbook. Through the glossary of pigments that was located in the back, I picked up some basic rules that directed my palette. Mr. Mayer itemized each color, its origins and the time it was developed and in use. This guide helped me select and limit the colors and shades in the pictures that I paint, ensuring accuracy to their period in history. This started my career.

Recently I saw some of the stuff that I painted way back in the 80’s. It looked as crisp and as accurate as the day it was done – Arslonga vita brevis – so I’ll just carry on. It’s hard to believe that it has now been over thirty five years of showing paintings and meeting the nicest people from all over America.

It has been an honor for me and a very humbling experience to be numbered with this extraordinary group of artisans that have been gathered and exhibited at City Folk in Lancaster, Pa. It has truly been a pleasure to work with all the fine folks at City Folk. And yes, thank you City Folk for your welcome and your support. I’m excited about being at the First Friday in June at City Folk.

Marc

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Adrienne Trafford

Posted by on May 12, 2011 in Featured Artist Archive | 0 comments

Featured Artist /  May, 2011 / On Exhibit: Original watercolor and ink illustrations from “The Journey”

Book Description:

Why am I here and what have I done of worth? Find these answers as you explore emotions, fears, hopes, and self-realizations with this 46-card oracle depicting beautiful and strong women representing everyday issues. Improve yourself, day-by-day, as you find answers to doubts in your heart or struggles along your path by allowing the oracle to help you see where you were, where you are now, and where you may be going. As you journey, you will find that though our paths may not look the same, we are all seeking the same truths. But your journey, through these cards, will reflect your personal pathway to those truths. Whether the cards advise you to “Stand up, dig your heels in, and fight back” or that “Even on the dreariest day, the sun is still there behind the clouds,” you will feel the pull of your heart strings as you warm to the beat of a journey meant only for you.

Adrienne

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