The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
New exhibits feature landscapes, portraits and pottery
The Earlville Opera House will host its next round of gallery exhibitions boasting artwork including portrait drawings, watercolors...
EARLVILLE, N.Y. » The Earlville Opera House will host its next round of gallery exhibitions boasting artwork including portrait drawings, watercolors, large-scale acrylic paintings and ceramics.
The East Gallery highlights the talents of Michele L. Harvey and Steven Skol- lar in their exhibit “Locals and Locale.” This dual exhibit features watercolors by Harvey of some recognizable local spots in nature, and is complimented by the portrait drawings of Skollar.
Harvey has created and drawn the world around her since she could hold a pencil or piece of chalk. As a professional landscape painter, she began selling paintings in 1973 and has continued in the gallery world, with museum showings and buyers fromacross the county and around the world. The Earlville Opera House hosted a one person show of her oil paintings in 1991.
While Harvey has always done watercolors as sketches for her larger oils, this show marks her recent full time move to watercolor painting. “I’ve chosen landscape painting as an expression for time’s passage,” she said. “For what are we and what is our world if not the constant f lux of change and impermanence. What I hope to express is theworldview of transience and imperfection; what the Japanese would term: wabi-sabi. This is not a mere descrip- tion of flaws, but rather the nobility inherent in life and aging. The patina of time touches all things, both animate and inanimate and while it may be something many choose to look away from, I present it here as beautiful and authentic, perfect in its imperfection.”
She may be found online at micheleharvey.com, on Facebook as Michele L. Harvey and on Instagram as michelel.harvey.
Skollar has been producing art his whole life and has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions all across the United
States. His work hangs in selected collections including the Fenimore Art Museum; Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Mass.; Mastercard Corporation, Purchase, N.Y.; Wellington Management, Boston, Mass.; Exxon Corporation, Irving, N.Y.; and also is coveted in private collections held by Ken Burns; Reggie Jackson; Steve Martin; Dan Rather; Meg Ryan; Irwin Schlosberg; Billy West; Whoopi Goldberg; and J.J. Abrams.
“What is art? Colors, red or blue? So many different opinions as of late,” Skollar said. “Environmentally, politically, sexually. I thought it would be fun to explore the simple, shared fact that we all have eyes, noses and ears. Our hair is changing color and texture as we all grow old somewhat together. I was trying to explore how art could effect all these diverse opinions and people in our community. I have tried to portray as many of my neighbors as possible.”
For more information on Skollar, visit stevenskollar.com.
In the West Gallery, Earlville’s Tom Schmitt’s large- scale acrylic paintings come to life in his exhibit “Radiant Bones.”
“I have always been interested in paleontology,” Schmitt said. “With the series I am working on now, I would like to show that fossilized bones may look like they are made of stone, but they are still alive. When I look at the bones, I don’t actually see the life in them with my eyes, but I sense it in the form of radiating light and color. When I’m working on a painting, at some point it begins to take on a life of its own. I find that very exciting.”
In the Arts Café, Lynne “Otter” Berry presents a brand new series of ceramic creations in her “Imagined Earth” exhibit. Otter has taught pottery at the Oswego Art Guild and Chenango Arts Council and has exhibited in several locations, including Cazenovia Artisans and Made in Chenango.
“I’ve been working in, wearing and trailing clay dust behind me since 1968,” Berry said. “I think my college roommate, who suggested I study it, deduced that spending time in the studio would result in her coping with much less of me in the dorm. The proceeds from selling pottery were a useful source of funds for extra-curricular activities in those days. But what has kept me coming back to the clay for 50 years is the alchemy of creating something that serves and decorates today, and yet will carry the very personal impression of my own hands into the future.”
Following the opening, Reyna Stagnaro will perform in the Courtyard from 3- 4:30 p.m.
Sponsored by Heartwood Frames of Sherburne, N.Y., these exhibits run from Aug. 18 through Sept. 7, with the opening on Saturday, Aug. 18 from 1-3 p.m. Galleries can be viewed Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays, noon to 3 p.m. Gallery visits are always free and open to the public.
The EOH Theater is wheelchair - accessible with a ramp and a lift.
For more information, call 315- 691-3550 or order online at www.earlvilleoperahouse.com. The Opera House is located at 18 E. Main St., Earlville.