Legacy of Silvermine 2018
February 11– March 11
2018 LEGACY ARTISTS - Years in Guild Donald Axleroad
14
Adrienne Cullom
46
Ken Davies
66
Lois Flint Eldridge
39
Leonard Everett Fisher
53
Christy Gallagher
35
Dorothea Goldys-Bass
35
Sergio Gonzalez-Tornero
52
Lou Hicks
30
Jane Ingram
18
Judith Orseck Katz
20
Jak Kovatch
42
Janet Levine
27
Renata Manasse Schwebel
32
Jody Silver
16
Congratulation to this Year’s Legacy Artists! Silvermine Arts Center is proud to present the second annual exhibition featuring Silvermine’s distinguished long-term Guild Artists in “The Legacy of Silvermine: Artists, Art and Community.” As we approach our 100th year, each year Silvermine will be honoring our longstanding Guild artists bringing to life their involvement and contribution to our rich cultural past. This year, we honor fifteen Guild members - internationally and nationally acclaimed artists - who have both achieved excellence in their careers and have given their passion, service, and dedication to Silvermine Arts Center. They, in turn, have expressed their gratitude to Silvermine for providing a nurturing environment for dialog, lasting friendships and a valuable resource for art production, education, and exhibition. These and our other legacy artists add to Silvermine’s storied history which includes art luminaries such as Elaine deKooning, Milton Avery, Alice Neel, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, James Rosenquist, Chuck Close to name just a few. We extend our heartfelt appreciation to these artists for their contributions to the many facets of Silvermine’s rich culture and community for the visual arts: The Guild, the Gallery, the School of Art, the Outreach Program, and the Board of Directors. Thanks to Jeffrey Mueller our Gallery Curator for his hard work and dedication to this exhibit. We extend a special thank you to Atria for its generous sponsorship which helped make this exhibition possible. With gratitude, Rose-Marie Fox Zeb Mayer Roger Mudre Co-Chairs, the Legacy of Silvermine Exhibit
Atria Darien Independent and Assisted Living
DonalD axleroaD Printmaker
Stamford, CT Member since 2004
Artist Donald Axleroad draws inspiration from Greek mythology to make connections between the ancient and modern worlds. “Mythology offers me a chance to express visually the opposing forces of good and evil and fear and hope that humanity is all about.� Axleroad has received numerous awards from prestigious organizations including The Salmagundi Club, NY, The National Arts Club of NY, The Allied Artist of America, as well as top prizes in many Fairfield County art associations. He has exhibited in major museums on the east coast and in a UN sponsored traveling exhibit of 100 American printmakers. A graduate of Pratt Institute, he has studied with Philip Guston, Richard Linder and Antonio Frasconi.
www.donaxleroad.com
aDrienne Cullom Printmaker
Mahopac, NY Member since 1972
�In 1960 in Paris at the Atelier 17 for intaglio printmaking my teacher S. W. Hayter introduced me to burin engraving on copper plate, an ancient and noble discipline. I love the tense, wiry and metallic nature of the burin line, swelling majestically from thin to thick, and then sighing back to the finest yet deliberate trace, in a constant three dimensional exploration of an inner space revealed when the plate is inked and printed on paper. Black is the queen of intaglio colors.� Over the years Cullom has explored and been recognized for her works as Burin engraver, water-colorist, fiber-mask maker; receiving awards from the Boston Printmakers and The National Arts Club in New York City. She studied at the Atlanta Art Institute; the Akademie fur Angewandte Kunst, Vienna, Austria; and at the Atelier 17, Paris, France, on a French Government Scholarship. Her work has been exhibited internationally from Europe and the U.S.
Ken Davies Painter
Madison, CT Member since 1952
Art Digest said that Davies’ trompe l’oeil paintings “exhibit a visual observation so acute and a technical handling so precise that the spectator is not willing to give up the illusion that he can actually grasp a pencil or tear a piece from a torn envelope until he is within a foot of the canvas.” Ken Davies was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. He attended Yale University, where he painted his first important oil painting, "Lighthouses in the Alps". The work captured the attention of New York City cultural figure Lincoln Kirstein, who helped Davies attain showings of his early works in 1950 at the Hewitt Gallery. He also received a Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation fellowship that year. His first solo show was at the Hewitt Gallery in 1951, and every painting sold. He taught at the Paier School of Art in Hamden, Connecticut. During his forty years there, he taught such notable artists as Joseph Reboli; and eventually became the dean. In 1962, he decided to refocus on his Still life painting, and enjoyed further success, with gallery representation from Hirschl & Adler Galleries. His first solo show there was in 1978. Davies' labor-intensive technique involves sable brushes, resulting in paintings that appear almost like photographs, but with trompe-l'œil and surrealist effects. www.susanpowellfineart.com/portfolioitem/ken-davies
lois Flint elDriDge Ceramicist
Glastonbury, CT Member since 1979
A founding member of the Glastonbury Art Guild, Eldridge set out to be a teacher, and pursued that vocation both here and abroad. She taught Spanish and French, and was a teacher in Glastonbury for students from third grade through adult education. Along the way she was introduced to pottery. She joined Wesleyan Potters and began a life-long study of clay, design, and glazes. Looking back on the years that she was establishing herself as a professional potter, she recalls shipping wholesale orders all over the Northeast. Working on a team at Wesleyan Potters Eldridge helped develop crystalline glazes. The glazes sparkle and reflect light as though stars were beaming through the pieces. Lois Eldridge admires craftspeople, saying “whether they work in wood, metal, gems or clay, or any other natural material, these artisans take what is available in the earth and bring them to life. It is an amazing process.�
leonarD everett Fisher Painter
Westport, CT Member since 1965
Fisher was born in the Bronx borough of New York City in 1924. Raised in the Sea Gate section of Brooklyn, he began his formal art training with his Brooklyn-born father, Benjamin M. Fisher, a designer of naval vessels.Between 1932 and 1942, Leonard Everett Fisher continued his training at the Heckscher Foundation (NY), with Moses and Raphael Soyer (NY), with Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League of New York, and Serge Chermayeff at Brooklyn College. He is a graduate of Yale University (1949, MFA 1950). A Pulitzer Prize–winning children’s book author and illustrator, Fisher turns traditional, narrative illustrations into enigmatic, open-ended artworks. Fisher’s work often juxtaposes figures in motion with a still background. he is a member of the Lowe Illustration Committee of the New Britain Museum of American Art, and served on the advisory board of the Master of Fine Arts program of Western Connecticut State University. A longtime resident of Westport, CT, he is a founding member of the Westport-Weston Arts Council (now the Westport Arts Center), past president of the Westport Library Board of Trustees, and recipient of Westport's Lifetime Achievement Award for the Visual Arts. Also, he is an Honorary Lifetime Member of both the Silvermine Guild of Artists and the New Haven Paint and Clay Club. www.michaelrosenfeldart.com/artists/leonard-everett-fisher-b1924
Christy gallagher Painter
Bridgeport, CT Member since 1983
For Gallagher watercolor is an intimate endeavor. I like to paint with a pad or block on my lap. The act of putting brush to paper, feeling that the washes are barely under control, brings up a pleasurable sense of risk and adventure. Using puddles of color to make shapes, using the paper to make light, keeps me totally absorbed, suspended in time. With my brush keeping tt,e washes alive, I search for what is essential in what I observe. With the beginning of a new painting, I try to be very direct, very simple, starting with the format -the rectangle- and begin to draw the structures, the verticals and horizontals that support each other and relate to the edges of the paper. I look for big shapes and angles and their relationships. Smaller and subtle shapes and details are noted and may be used later if the masses are anchored, and will add focus and definition to the whole. I start at the center and work to the margins. It is impossible to just copy reality: I want to interpret, to translate what ts there before me, to observe what has become new, singular and compeiiing. Attending both Cooper Union and the National Academy of Design, School of Fine Art, in New York, Gallagher has exhibited throughout the East Coast In addition she has been an active teacher and been granted fellowships and grants throughout the years.
Dorothea golDys-Bass Painter
New York, NY Member since 1983
“I always have been attracted to the notion in literature and film of “Magic Realism”. A cross between reality and fantasy fusing itself into one's daily consciousness.” Dorothea Goldys-Bass has a diverse background in the arts, from ornithological drawing to archaeological renderings at Columbia University. “I found a passion for the exotic.” She made a living this way, while finishing up her MFA, at Columbia University, plus a year of postgraduate work, at the Peabody Museum, Harvard University. Plein Air painting has also become a more recent endeavor, and has only added to the pleasure she derives from diving into dreams and the reality of the extraordinary landscapes she is privy to each day here in the fantastic Litchfield Hills of Connecticut. Painting in Columbia County, next to the Hudson River, plus the Adirondacks, and Acadia National Park has only been a plus in her work. During her career as an artist she has exhibited through out the United States and Europe. Her work can be found in the holdings of corporate, private and public collections like the University of Columbia and Smith Barney. “It couldn’t have been better, and what’s more, it still goes on,……”
sergio gonzalez-tornero Painter, Printmaker Mahopac, NY Member since 1966
Gonazlez- Tornero is best known as printmaker and painter. He was the son of diplomats and studied in Chile, Brazil, and the United States. In 1958 he studied at the Slade School in London before moving to Paris where he studied at Stanley William Hayter's Atelier 17. Gonzalez-Tornero has had more than forty solo exhibitions in Chile, Canada, Europe and throughout the United States. He was awarded a fellowship by the New York State Foundation for the Arts and a grant from the Adolph and Ester Gottlieb Foundation. He is also a member of the Society of American Graphic Artists, Boston Printmakers and the Philadelphia Print Club. Gonzalez-Tornero’s work is included in numerous collections including the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, the New York Public Library, the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.
lou hiCKs Painter
Stamford, CT Member since 1988
”Artists are in the business of discerning what holds their interest and interpreting that in such a manner that it intellectually or visually challenges and moves them.” Lou Hick’s subject matter is really the surface manipulations of paint colors and layers. Her paintings are of ephemeral, disparate shapes that often represent places that are important to me, places that give me particular feelings such as awe, peace, and calm. The places are excuses to create canvases that invite the viewer to wander through the often dark, rich layers of pigment. The goal of her work is to paint paintings that are almost spiritual in essence, with a profound sense of stillness, reflection, and a deep sense of place, be it Maine water or the view out of her studio in Port Chester, New York. Hicks has predominately exhibited through out the East Coast with for several international like forays such as exhibiting in Japan. Her work is in the permanent of many private and public institutions such as Darmouth College, The Library of Congress and most recently the MoMA.
www.louhicks.com
Jane ingram Printmaker
Ridgefield, CT Member since 2000
Jane Ingram is an award-winning painter and printmaker who has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions at galleries and museums throughout Connecticut and New York including The Stamford Museum & Nature Center (CT), Silvermine Guild Galleries (CT), Art/Place (CT), Left of the Bank (CT), Sarah Lawrence College (NY), Pen and Brush Club (NY) , Northern Westchester Center for the Arts (NY), Carriage Barn (CT) and Iona College(NY). Her artwork is represented in public and private collections and has been reviewed and reproduced in Art New England magazine and reproduced in Connecticut Cottages and Gardens magazine. Ms. Ingram was selected as a Radius Emerging Artist by the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art (CT) and the Ridgefield Guild of Artists in 2000. She is an active member of many artist organizations including Silvermine Guild of Artists, Mamaroneck Artist Guild and Pen and Brush Club -NYC.
JuDith orseCK Katz Painter, Sculptor Westport, CT Member since 1998
”It is my intention in my paintings that I capture a moments’ spontaneity and keep it forever. If the image is a place, then that place become mine forever. I am drawn to work that is strong and fluid and elegant. I also like symbols. I love Paul Klee.” A native New Yorker, Judith Orseck Katz, graduate of the Music and art High School and Syracuse University School of Fine Arts, is a graphic designer, potter, and painter. She taught at Parsons School of Design for 12 years, and in Westport and Silvermine, Connecticut. She is the author of ‘A Painter’s Guide to The Catskills of Rip Van Winkle,” “A Painter’s Guide to Fort Lauderdale,” and “The Beautiful Pond.” Her paintings and sculptures have been represented in many shows throughout New York and New England.
JaK KovatCh Painter, Sculptor Westport, CT Member since 1976
A native of Los Angeles, Kovatch studied at UCLA, Chouinard Art Institute, California School of Art (Los Angeles), Los Angeles City College, USC and Art Students League, New York. He served as a Mellon Fellow, participating in the Visiting Faculty Program at Yale University where Gabor Peterdi was his acting host in drawing printmaking. Later would he once again returned to Yale – as a Mellon Special Fellow. Kovatch has more than 45 years experience teaching art design students. At present, he is a Silvermine School of Art faculty member, teaching drawing, figure and anatomy. In 1949 he first exhibited work at the Los Angeles County Museum – at the age of 20. Since then he has exhibited paintings, drawings, sculpture and graphics in more than 700 regional, national and international museums, universities and institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (NY), Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Wadsworth Athenaeum (CT), Smithsonian Institution (National Collection of Fine Arts), De Cordova Museum, Lincoln (MA), Metropolitan Museum of Art (Tokyo), Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama (Japan), Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan (Republic of China), Barbican Arts Centre (London). His works are in the collections of the Fogg Museum of Art (Harvard University); the Library of Congress and The Joseph Hirshhorn Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC.
Janet levine Painter
New York, NY Member since 1991
�I love a good mystery. Images that contract, expand, appear and disappear intrigue me as a narrative unfolds. Through the medium of collage I am able to narrow my focus & fully explore an idea. Black & white is my film noir world.� Janet Levine has exhibited in the New York area and more recently in South Korea. She has explored a variety of mediums including painting, photography, printmaking, fiber and three-dimensional work. In recent years she has been concentrating on collage that has proved to be fertile ground. Levine is an artist member of the Silvermine Guild as well as Textile Study Group of New York.
renata manasse sChweBel Sculptor
Pound Ridge, NY Member since 1986
“I tend to work in cycles, using metal, wood and clay, but always returning to welded metals (either stainless steel or aluminum). Most of my sculpture is in the hard-edge non-objective mode, but every so often the wish for humor evokes abstracted figurative work. I find that the feel of the material and the handling of tools is as much a part of the joy of sculpture as the originating of ideas.” Renata Manasse Schwebel received her BA from Antioch College, and her MFA from Columbia University and later studied with Helen Beling. Schwebel also attended the welding workshop of the Arts Students League and the Hobart Welding School. Renata’s solo exhibitions include: Columbia University; Greenwich Art Barn, Connecticut; Sculpture Center, New York City; Pelham Art Center, New York; New Rochelle Library Gallery; Outdoor Installations Katonah Gallery; Berman/Daferner Gallery, New York City; and Herndon Gallery, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH. Additional she has participated in many group shows she in museums, public and private galleries, universities, and cultural centers through out t the country. www.renatamschwebel.com
JoDy silver Sculptor
Stamford, CT Member since 2002
Jody Silver studied art at Queens College, and received a Masters in fine arts at Hunter College. She has made prints and an animated film, published children’s books, taught animation and has worked as an illustrator. About eight years ago she changed course and started working in 3D. With a band saw, scroll saw and other tools and found objects gathered from tag sales flea markets, she began assembling her signature sculptures. Some pieces fell into place with relative ease, but most emerged slowly. A piece of wood that in a previous existence had been a hat form, a second that had been a shoe tree, and a third that came from the curved back of a chair. Do not always easily accept coexisting with each other as parts of a perky dog. But when they do, it is magic. And so, old objects are given new life. The bottom line for Silver as an artist is to make a piece that gets the viewer to say, "I get it." www.jodysilver.com
Your Legacy Counts Here You are invited to become a Founding Member of Silvermine’s Legacy Society All of us are indebted to those who precede us We share a community whose foundations we have not laid At the same time, we are seeds of the future The decisions we make will be known by generations we will never meet. Give the gift of the future and become a part of Silvermine forever. By making a major gift or charitable provision to the Legacy Fund you join the passionate and inspired art lovers who have chosen to leave a lasting impact making the world a better place. For information on how you can make a difference. Please call Barbara Linarduci, 203.966.9700 x15
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.� Edgar Degas
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