"...they are purely naturalistic depictions which yet contain a mystically symbolic quality equal to what one might find in the very best purely abstract works. This combination which she has mastered of exquisitely precise depiction of nature with profound symbolic expression is intensely moving and extraordinarily effective."
-Christopher Faris, Manchester Journal

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Growing up in rural Vermont, Hoey spent many hours exploring its woods, river banks and beaver ponds. Hoey has always liked to create with her hands and started painting and drawing as a child. Gradually, she began to create art full-time, developing her current focus: landscapes in charcoal.

The terrains that inspire Hoey provide solitude. They are often remote, rugged, and unspoiled. Each year she has spent time creating art on Great Cranberry Island, Maine, in west Texas, and in Vermont. Most recently, she has found inspiration in south Florida's wilderness.

Hoey was awarded two residencies, first in the Everglades National Park and then in Big Cypress National Preserve. During these residencies, she fell in love with the ecosystem and was inspired to move to southern Florida for a year, to further immerse herself in the environment. She now lives in Vermont.

Hoey has exhibited in New England as well as in Texas and Florida. Currently she is represented by the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, New Hampshire and Islesford Artists, in Islesford, Maine.

ARTIST STATEMENT

While working in a variety of media, I discovered my love of charcoal and the challenges of its limited palette. Using techniques developed on my own, I create pieces inspired by the natural world. Particular places evoke strong feelings, which I portray as emotional landscapes rather than realistic renderings.

Internal journeys and questions are common themes throughout my work. Realizing the necessity of acknowledging and expressing that which is within, both the light and the dark, I explore these emotions in my drawings. I arrange the elements in my charcoals to resonate with feelings of place on a very primitive level. Through my work, I seek to capture something larger.

As Robert Henri aptly put it, "There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to see beyond the usual. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom. If one could but recall his vision by some sort of sign. It was in this hope that the arts were invented. Sign-posts on the way to what may be. Sign-posts toward greater knowledge."

The Rowen

Shark Valley

September

Early Spring

Wading birds, alligators, snakes , fish and other abundant wildlife provided inspiration for Goodenough's sheet metal sculptures. His highly refined style combines abstract organic forms into life-like renderings. These pieces are cold formed by hammering and take many hours of hand work to complete.

Inspired by remote and wild places, Hoey captures the land in her charcoal drawings by focusing on the interplay of light and shadow. In her finely rendered drawings, the mountainous clouds, barren cypress and lush vegetation of South Florida are portrayed in their subtle beauty.

The public is welcome to attend this event from 5pm-8pm in the Exner Block Gallery, 7 Canal Street, Bellows Falls, VT. Light refreshments will be provided.

I began making jewelry as gifts for my family. This evolved into apprenticing with a traditional goldsmith while supplementing my ideas with undergraduate courses in art and anthropology at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. When I finished my degree, I landed a job as a fine jeweler in Woodstock, VT where I honed my skills in the craft for two years. Ready to tackle more artistic design, I applied to the leading graduate program for contemporary metalsmithing in the United States (SUNY, New Paltz) and was accepted. During my graduate studies, I worked part time in a contemporary art gallery to gain insight into the retail dimension of the art world. Once I finished my masters degree, I was whisked into the art gallery world, running a major gallery in Red Bank, NJ for two years which resulted in landing a position in a major gallery on 57th and Madison in New York. The experience proved crucial in developing an understanding of how art is marketed, sensualized, and coveted. In February of 2007, I made the transition to my current studio at the Exner Block with the vision of beginning a full time studio practice.

Fan Coral
Ebony, Rosebud Pearl, 18K Rose Gold, Silver

Fortitude
Silk, Silver, 18K

Mediated Comfort
Silk, Silver

T e d S l a g h t
Unique and Imaginative Creations in Metal
Ted Slaght was born in New England and has lived in
Vermont since 1946. He has always had a knack for
making things from odd bits and pieces. After retiring,
he decided it was time to play – at least that’s what he
calls it – and so he put the skills that he developed
during his working years into his new, creative
endeavors.
Starting with found bits of scrap iron - a rake, a steering
wheel, an old shovel, almost anything – Ted sets his
imagination free. It usually takes one major find to
inspire a new work. Each piece is unique and each is
signed by the artist.
Ted’s work is inspired by the natural world and a sense
of humor always prevails. So don’t be surprised if you
find yourself smiling back at these whimsical creations.

Contact Geoff Denton for more information and hours.

Please join us Thursday, November 15th from 6:30 - 8:30pm for a preview of the jewelry. Photographs of the pieces will be installed from November 15th through December 9th, 2007. On the opening night, Russell will be present for conversation and dialogue.

15 Canal Street
802.579.2739

"I buy beads and jewelry components from around the world. I look for the exotic and unusual. For people who love to bead I offer a large variety to choose from. Either by the piece or strand. Precious and semi-precious gemstones to freshwater pearls. To stimulate your creative side there are new/old stock vintage findings and components not found anywhere else. Finished pieces are available. If you would like to design your own I will be happy to assist and finish the piece for you. One of a kind fused dichroic glass pendants and earrings. Do you have a well loved or broken necklace from your family? Bead restringing available or the piece can be redesigned."

Schmid has been painting seriously for 29 years. She worked alongside her father, a recognized painter, during her formative years. It was here that she developed a dedicated work ethic that honors skill, striving for perfection, playing with color, and taking the time to get it right. In seeing this work, one can garner the patience, care and beauty with which Schmid handles her artistic process. She is represented solely by Littlehouse Gallery and commissions can be established through her art agent Robert Leigh (205.886.3775).

Please join us Friday, September 21st from 5:30 - 8:30pm for the opening of the exhibition which will be installed from September 21st through October 14, 2007. On the opening night, Schmid will be present for conversation and dialogue.
Text By: Dawn Russell

Gretchen Schmid,
Self-Portrait (2006) oil on canvas

Gretchen Schmid,
Marsh Mallow (2007) oil on board

char_pv@yahoo.com

Thoughts on My Art

I first started doing art while in college. I received my B. A. in Art and Literature from VT College of Norwich University in 1998. I was in my final semester and looking for my voice. I thought to myself "why not try to find it through a visual art semester"? I found a voice. I'm assuming it is mine; most of the art I do is self-portrait in nature.

As far as my art goes, I believe in "it is what it is". To be more specific, it is what you, the viewer, perceive it to be. I don't want to alter or interfere with your perception of what you are seeing. Rarely will I offer up titles or neatly packaged explanations of what I have done.

For the beginning of 2008, the Exner Block gallery will feature a thematic show entitled A Year in the Everglades: Recent Works of Art.

The schedule for the Exner Block Artists Series is as follows:

Rockingham Arts and Museum Project (RAMP) and artists living at the Exner Block have organized a seven month exhibition series featuring solo and group shows. This month's show will feature a two-person show entitled "Feeling Shapes and Hearing Colors" Kerry Lucier and Kate Gorman, Exner Block residents, relocated from Connecticut about a year ago. Their studio within this artists community is filled with cans of latex paint, the medium of choice for these two artists. The use of color contrasts found in Kerry's work is an expression of the energy he feels in nature, dreams and his interactions with people. He believes that the need to create is inherent in all people and, is life sustaining. Some of the works are masked so that the fluidity of the latex paint takes shape, often set up on an acrylic background.

Kate believes that art is an experience in co-creation with the universe, an exploration of soul and a link to the expansion of consciousness. Water is an integral part of her work with latex and though it's used with intention, it moves and dictates what the painting wants to be. Many of the paintings are images over images, creating texture, depths and backgrounds. Some of the small works on canvas, created with latex paint and oil pen are shapes and symbols that arise free from thought, as a connection to ancient and tribal knowing. Don't miss this Opening on Friday, July 20th, 5:00-8:00 pm, coinciding with Bellows Falls Third Friday ARTWALK, at The Exner Block, 7 Canal Street, Bellows Falls, VT 05101. Come feel the music of color and the emotion of shape.

Anne Y a resident artist at the Exner Block, will open the series with her first solo show entitled "Inscapes" on June 15th, to coincide with Bellow's Falls' third Friday Artwalk. Mark your calendar for magic. Anne's work is a watercolor window to whimsy, a place where the imagination can play. Anne Y's integration of lyrical color with abstract compositions yields a softly illuminated landscape, one that is nuanced with vibrant bursts of color and slightly recognizable forms. One can travel into her compositions as they allow for openness in thought, a refreshing element to any artwork. Anne begins with blank paper guided by process and a devotion to beauty. Her thematic strength lives in her mature understanding of color, the ways in which one can create harmony or dissonance through the application of two or more hues. Anne's pieces are universally beautiful in their sense of effervescent color. They light up a room while emoting a quiet repose.

Photographs of Inscapes:

conniehelen50@yahoo.com

A Little About Me and My Connection to Music

Playing music has been a preoccupation with me for thirty-five years. I started out on flute at the Hartt School of Music with an original member of the Glen Miller Air Force Orchestra and also a member of the Harftord Symphony. After moving to Vermont to attend Marlboro College, I studied with Kimi Hasegawa and was told I had to start all over again and practice more. Years went by and I wound up in Manhattan where I lived for 13 years. While on that island I studied alto sax with John Purcell and Lee Konitz. I also worked as a doorman/manager at Sweet Basil's and the Blue Note and hung out with people like Illinois Jaquet, Junior Cook and Sun Ra and also met Michael Brecker and Dexter Gordon among others. It was in NYC that I was 3exposed to live music on a regular basis and began to play in bands usually for no money. Because of wanderlust, I moved to Mexico City where I had my own band and played in the Zona Rose, as schools and private parties. In addition, I taught music at prep schools and the University of the Americas in Choula, Mexico. I gave private lessons all over the place. I think I taught maybe one hundred Mexicans to play the saxophone. There were many great musicians and opportunities to play in Mexico and I really enjoyed the place, however, for many reasons I had to return to the USA and I have been studying for nearly three years with Scott Mullet and even occasionally playing out. Music is an endless preoccupation with me and still I don't know whay.

blackjackoak@msn.com

A Bit of History:

In my life, I have drifted through several musical genres beginning with punk at fifteen and transitioning into metal by seventeen. When I read interviews of my favorite metal guitarists of this time, almost all of the musicians quoted Hendrix as being their major influence. As I became more familiar with Hendrixs music, I became mesmerized with his expressive style of guitar playing. His music also grabbed me emotionally. I began to research Hendrixs influences and this journey introduced me to Muddy Waters, Lightning Hopkins, Wes Montgomery, and John Coltrane. These new sounds, styles and forms generated a desire to find more complex and interesting ways to express myself. At this point, I transferred from a traditional college into a liberal arts university in which I began to avidly study Jazz and Blues. This became a period of rapid musical growth, a time where I studied, rehearsed, and performed live gigs with talented players from the Pacific Northwest Region. Through all of this research into the history of Jazz, Blues, and Swing I developed a great love for roots music. The isolation of the early 1900s created melodies, chord progressions, and lyrical content that captured specific times and locales. The music of this era is the true beginnings of American music and I find it to be the most creative due to the isolated nature of the time. It is my hope to bring the spirit and creativity of this music into a contemporary context.