50th Anniversary Gallery Featured Artists
Tim Walsh
Short biography
MFA, University of Pennsylvania; group and solo exhibitions in galleries in New York, Arizona, and California; recipient of California Artists in Schools grant; public art projects in Arizona, Mexico, Philippines, California; collaborative projects with Cambodian refugees and Mexican artists; kite making with Mexican children; toymaking with Mexican American children; current fine art projects include “Methane: It Rots Your Brain” (a series of paintings and drawings addressing ecological degradation) and “La Migración” (a series of images on paper made with Mexican artisans that addresses the migration of people and creatures across international borders).
Artist Statement
I paint, draw, and write because I have to, in order to survive in an exceedingly fractious world. I collaborate with others (makers and viewers) to peacefully understand ourselves and our surroundings.
Favorite memory
I am a child of the Chenango Valley, with deep roots in Hamilton. I now live and work in Manhattan. In the fall of 1972, Tony Santacroce, one of the founders of the then—“new” Opera House, invited me to inaugurate the Opera House art gallery with a one-person show. The exhibit was well-attended. All of the pieces in the Opera House show were colorful, atmospheric, and completely non-objective—or so I, fresh out of graduate school, thought. One of the visitors to the opening was my aunt Win, at that time a switchboard operator at the American Management Association. In viewing the abstract paintings, Win remarked, “Well, I don’t entirely understand them, but they are colorful. And wait, don’t I see a man parachuting through a pink sky in that one?” I looked. The parachutist was, indeed, there, only he had been hidden from the young artist by his own ego and a need to conform to the expectations of the Art World. Years later, that incident was one of the prime motivators for my switch to a more naturalistic painting approach, one still abstract, but intentionally more accessible to a broader range of viewers. I now refer to myself as an “abstract landscape” painter. The piece on display here (actually a triptych composed of three studies) is an example of my efforts to make my work more broadly accessible while remaining intellectually demanding and spiritually rewarding. A career-changing breakthrough began for me here, at the Opera House, fifty years ago.
Thank you, Opera House. May your next fifty years continue to shine.
Kirsten Weyter
Short Bio
Kirsten is a multi-media artist. She is currently figure painting and assembling a book of figure drawings. In addition she designs jewelry and handspun yarn.
Artist Statement
I’m inspired by the world around me, the nature of its changes and how my perspective is altered by shifts in consciousness.
Favorite Memory
My favorite memories are Dode’s Tea and Vintage Fashion Show, Haunting the Opera House, making handcrafts for the annual Holiday Sale, participating in the Women’s Ancestry Exhibit and teaching Yoga in the art gallery. Other than that I enjoy the art exhibits.
Margaret Brenner
Short Bio
I received my MFA in Studio Art from SUNY Albany in 1989. At the time, I worked in pastels and sculture. Over the past decade, I’ve gravitate to photography as my preferred medium. I’ve also taught drawing at several schools and participated in numerous juried and one-woman shows.
Artist Statement
I’m strongly drawn to the myriad of colors, shapes and textures found in nature. The three images of “Forest Story,” the piece shown here, were created during the Covid-19 lockdown in early 2020. They were inspired by the enormous comfort and stimulation I found in the forest at this time.
Favorite Memory
Over the past decades I’ve attended numerous fine art exhibitions at EOH. They’ve reflected a diversity of styles and media and have always been of exceptional quality. I love listening to an artist discuss their work and answer questions at the opening. I look forward to the EOH resuming its vital role in showcasing the arts in our rural community as life returns to normal following the pandemic.
Bill McLaughlin
Short Bio
Self-taught painter and photographer living and working in Chenango County.
Artist Statement
My work as a visual artist has mostly expressed itself in my relationship to Nature and the land on which I live. Witnessing the land in all its seasons and its many moods supplies much of the inspiration for my paintings and photographs.
It's important for my landscapes to express not only my emotional connection to the land but to hopefully instill in others the peace and serenity that I experience in Nature–and now more than ever–the urgent necessity for active stewardship of our land and water.
Favorite Memory
From my first visit to the EOH, I knew I wanted my paintings to be part of this wonderful resource. The perfect light, the warm, friendly vibe and the gorgeous building--what artist wouldn't want to see their work on these walls?
Kathy Glavin
The 50th Anniversary Retrospective Exhibit is a FASCINATING idea and collection of artists through these many years. In a way it’s a lovely, historical “thank you” to artistic contributors, to say your efforts are not forgotten…we want you back!
I’ve been an artist participant within recent years and have appreciated the care and respect given to my work, as well as my person. The EOH staff has been accommodating and gracious throughout the exhibit process and patient with all the extra questions and concerns.
In earlier days, I participated in stage productions. The EOH reached out to our Irish dance troupe…The Claddagh Ring Dancers… to perform on stage around the St Patrick’s Day season. That old stage welcomed our dancing feet like an old friend, and lifted us up to perform our best! Again we were treated so well, and enjoyed the attention given to our performances.
Thank you for all those cherished memories.
Julian Button
The Sherburne Arts Festival Committee is pleased to announce that this year’s featured artist will be Julian Button, of Sherburne. The festival will take place on June 11, 2022, in Gaines Park, Sherburne. Gaines Park is located on Route 80 East (East State St.), next to the Sherburne Public Library.
Julian operates his studio and business in Sherburne and works in multiple media, including watercolor, acrylic, airbrushing, wall murals, home and business portraits, historical reconstructed renderings in either ink or pencil, handmade paper, books, hand-sculpted paperscapes, logos and design work; wedding, fine art, and macro-photography; leaded glass, computer art, and sometimes a mix of media. He has exhibited widely and has won numerous awards, and locations of his one-man shows include the Earlville Opera House, NBT, Chenango Memorial Hospital, Chenango County Council of the Arts gallery, the Eaton Center, and The Sherburne Inn. In 1993 he designed, published, and edited the Sherburne Bicentennial Album Pictorial. He designed the gift shop and painted the lobby mural at the Northeast Classic Car Museum in Norwich. For seven years Julian was the muralist for Viking Vans of Flandreau, South Dakota, a van conversion company for which he airbrushed over 500 automotive murals. His art is in collections throughout the country, including California, Idaho, South Dakota, Florida, Arizona, Virginia and New York. Please mark your calendar for the second Saturday in June to visit the park, meet the artist, and view his work.
Henry Drexler
Short Bio
Born and raised in Chenango County, I have been painting since I was nine years old. My early work was representational, but over time has become more painterly and abstract. I have exhibited my work in galleries in Lexington, MA; Binghamton, Syracuse, Ithaca, Hamilton, Cazenovia and Cooperstown, NY; Lambertville, NJ; Bethesda, MD and Alexandria, VA.
Artist Statement
Acrylic paint is my chosen medium because it’s very versatile and drives fast. Most of my work is an expression of my relationship with the rural landscape of upstate New York. It is inspired by the experience of growing up on a dairy farm and my interest in gardening and local history. It has been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions and can be found in museums, corporate and private collections throughout the Untied States.
Favorite Memory
I have been a member of the Earlville Opera House off and on for over 40 years and even photographed it during restoration. My favorite memory is being part of the production of “Rudigore” in 2001.
Collin Blackmore
Short Bio
I am trained as jeweler, welder, and machinist, and have worked in engineering and custom metal fabrication shops. Several years ago, I returned to making home décor and sculptures of my own design, and began showing my work in 2019.
Artist Statement
Everything I make is hand crafted, starting with plain sheet metal, wire and various steel bar. I take pride in the quality of my craftsmanship. It provides a framework for my creativity and is like my signature. While my work reflects my training and expertise in industrial techniques, I also draw my inspiration from the shapes and balance of nature.
Favorite Memory
As a kid growing up in Hamilton, I would go to music concerts at the EOH with my parents. Of course, I will never forget having the first solo show of my work there in 2019.
Storm
Short Bio
When I started art school, my father asked, “What for?” and I said, “For me!”
Artist Statement
The beauty of life!
Favorite Memory
My favorite memory is bringing my students on walks to the EOH when I taught at Earlville Elementary School. Several of my students asked why can’t we have a show here. I talked to Lisa and the student art show began. I exhibited in the 1997 or 98 after my Residency in the Bohasco Foundation, Italy and in 2021.
D. Michael Price
Short Bio
D. Michael Price is a fantasy artist whose works have graced the walls of hundreds of galleries both nationally and internationally. Michael earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with Honors from the State University of New York at Oneonta, with an emphasis on oil painting and book design. He published his first book Across the River in 1995. His original art works are the illustrations for his books. Since that time Michael's success as both a children's author and fine artist, have gained him celebrity status.
Favorite Memory
Many good times, best ones I can't remember!
Steven Skollar
Short Bio
I’ve been a professional artist over 40 years. Exhibited all over the world.
Artist Statement
Beauty, Ugly, Humor, Music, Life.
Favorite Memory
I had my first show at the Earlville Opera House in 1989. Always a wonderful experience, great people, space and true asset to our community.
Lutz Scherneck
Short Bio
A graduate of SU VPA with a BFA in painting, I’ve shown in various exhibitions throughout Central NY. My studio is located in Dolgeville, NY and is open by appointment to visitors.
Artist Statement
Some of my painting have taken 65 years of my life experience to get to their existence. It has taken me that long to learn to see what makes sense to me and to express it with paint.
Favorite Memory
EOH is certainly one of the most beautiful venues around. Most memorable is driving a rental truck loaded with my paintings to Earlville for my show in the late fall of 2017 with my daughter beside me. Navigating icy roads on summer tires I can still feel the frost-heaved roads and thankful that my daughter had a secure seat belt that prevented her hitting the ceiling of the truck’s cab as she floated off her seat with each bump.
Deborah Walsh
Short Bio
Deborah Walsh is an artist living and working in Upstate New York. Walsh studied art at Syracuse University where she earned a BFA in painting and MS in Art Education. She retired from teaching art in public schools and has since been an Artist in Residence at several schools where she creates permanent ceramic mural installations working directly with students and staff. As a lifelong learner, being a Docent at the Everson Museum of Art, participating in various classes and workshops has given her opportunities to continue her passion for art and education. Although her preferred medium is acrylic painting she also works in clay, pastel, and collage. Her work has been included in Central New York Reginal and National juried shows as well as solo and group exhibitions.
Artist Statement
I consider myself a contemporary photorealist, painting what I see, as I see it. Everything reflective and shiny interests me. Working from multiple source photographs, I am not concerned with recreating exact copies, but rather using them as reference for manipulation, heightening the impressions of color and light, perspective and depth to create an image that becomes more meaningful to me. The result lie somewhere between photorealism and abstraction. My primary goal is to create an exciting composition using skills and attention to detail that interests and challenges me.
Britni Irons
Short Bio
All of my life I knew I wanted to do something with art because I have loved it ever since I was younger. But it wasn’t until high school that I fell in love with photography.
Artist Statement
Beautiful things occur in nature and I want to show that to people there are beautiful things everywhere you look.
Favorite Memory
I had show here a couple of years ago and was really happy about it selling some photos. I have also been volunteering here for a long time.
Jill Kraft
Bio
Jill Kraft (Osterhout) (b.1982-) American painter born and raised in upstate New York. Influenced by both French and American Impressionism. Kraft is a sculptural oil painter who concentrates mostly on landscape and everyday life. She describes herself as an emotional painter who connects with her audience with the limited use of facial imagery in her work.
Kraft began painting in her mid-twenties after having the “urge to paint something.” In 2009 Kraft opened a small art store that eventually grew into a community art center in Norwich NY. In addition to her work at the art center, in 2016 Kraft created Creative Works, a nonprofit organization that provides the availability to create art to hundreds of people throughout the upstate region every year.
Artist Statement
My painting journey began one winter’s night when my boredom got the best of me. I was raising three small children and my nights were full of sitcoms and mopping the kitchen floor. I often joke and say it was my calling. Out of nowhere, I had the desire to paint. I remember as a child I would often draw, compete in sidewalk chalk competitions and I eventually got into graphic design. For as long as I remember I had always wanted to be an artist. Little did I know that desire would take me down the most incredible, life changing experience.
My newest work encompasses over 30 pieces that reflect what I see. Taken from photographs I have gathered or painted en plein air I paint the scenes I want to remember, the places I have gone. I want to look at a painting and be brought back to that time, the smell of the trees, the taste of the salt in the water, feel the breeze in the air, I want to remember each moment just as I experienced it.
Kenny Harris
Short Bio
Kenny Harris is an artist from Syracuse, NY. He’s a professor at Alfred State College and has exhibitions at the Albany International Airport, Garrison Art Center, New Hampshire Institute of Art, The Chenango Arts Council and of course the Earlville Opera House.
Artist Statement
As an artist, I’m inspired by narratives. Stories depict the deepest desire, fears, and dreams of humans. From ghost stories to mundane adventures, stories relay what it means to be human.
Favorite Memory
In 2019, I did an exhibit at the Earlville Opera House. Since then, I have been assisting in paranormal investigations whenever possible.
Kathleen J. Pfeifer
Short Bio
Graduated college from Buffalo State College with a BS in Art Education. Since retiring from teaching 37 years from the Norwich City Schools, I have devoted more time to painting and family. I enjoy many forms of art including printmaking and multi-media. My husband and I enjoy living in the country in our house from 1835. We look forward to more travel adventures.
Artist Statement
I’m very inspired by my travels and nature. Very drawn to textures, color and patterns in nature.
Favorite Memory
I had a one person show titled “Abstract Chemistry” which was a collection acrylic pour paintings. I immensely enjoyed teaching workshops in the past for EOH and hope to do it again. The past few years have kept me at home and not holding any person workshops.
Deborah Whitman
Short Bio
I’ve been sculpting and exhibiting in juried shows across the United State since 1982.
Artist Statement
Love and respect for others, honoring our choices and paths of life.
Favorite Memory
Installing exhibits, participating in the Holiday Sale.
Michele Harvey
Short Bio
I’ve been a professional artist since 1977 and have a long resume of gallery collections and museum shows. I began as an oil painter but have moved to watercolor as my medium of choice in the last four years.
Artist Statement
Can time and time’s passage be captured and conveyed by visual means alone?
What are we and what is the world we live in if not the constant flux of change and impermanence? What I hope to express with this show of rural scenes is a wider world view of transience and imperfection; what the Japanese would term: wabi-sabi. This is not merely a description of flaws and decay, but rather the nobility inherent in life and aging. The patina of time touches all things, both animate and inanimate. Time’s imprint can be seen here in my immediate surroundings, much like anywhere else. While time’s effect may be something many choose to look away from, it is the very fabric of life itself. I present it here as bittersweet in its beauty and authenticity. Perfect in its imperfection.
Favorite Memory
My first show at EOH was in 1991 of local landscapes in oil. My most recent show at EOH was local landscapes in watercolor in 2018.
Mark Hemendinger
Short Bio
I began seriously photographing/developing late 20th century, with an interest in Black and White and alternative processes.
Artist Statement
The interplay of light and shadow, along with the graceful curves found in nature, inspires my photographs.
Favorite Memory
My first solo photo exhibit was at the EOH, where I was gratefully educated in the grouping and hanging of photographs.
Marc-Anthony Polizzi
Short Bio
Marc-Anthony Polizzi was born in 1983 in the post-industrial city of Utica, NY. He attended PRATT at Munson Williams Proctor Institute of Art, The New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, and received his Masters in Fine Art from Tulane University in New Orleans. His education was punctuated by time spent as a traveling carnie, factory brazier, video store clerk, set designer, among other jobs. These diverse and happily demeaning experiences would later help shape his work. Also heavily influential was his time spent living in post-Katrina New Orleans and growing up in the failing rust belt city of Utica, NY.
Polizzi’s work has been shown in cities across the United States, including Chicago, New York City, New Orleans, and Kansas City. He has also appeared in numerous publications from New Glass Review (Corning Museum of Glass) to Staging Spaces, Scenic Interiors (Gestalten Publishing). His current body of work further developed while in residency at Sculpture Space, a time which allowed him to establish new techniques and experiment with paint, texture, and form.
Artist Statement
I've always considered myself a habitual maker. It feels less about Inspiration, and more about compulsion.
Favorite Memory
My first experience with the Earlville opera house was accidental. I was out exploring the area after moving back and just happened into Earlville. I was struck by how inviting the space was.
Stephen Horne
Short Bio
Trained at Boston University's School of Fine and Applied Arts after undergraduate study at Colgate University, Horne lives and works in Paul Smiths, NY, in the northern Adirondack Mountains.
After a career as an editorial cartoonist, illustrator and museum exhibit designer in, among other places, Norwich, Binghamton and Hamilton, NY in the 1970s-80sStephen Horne has returned to paints and canvas, with an eye to landscapes both here at home and far away on distant coastlines. Working in acrylic and oil, Horne explores these worlds on trails near his home in Paul Smiths, NY, or, traveling, along the roiling seascapes of Nova Scotia and beach dunes of Florida.
Artist Statement
“I was drawn to study at Colgate as much for the beauty of the Chenango Valley as for any academic purpose and loved my ten years living in Earlville and Plymouth. Now, the dense Adirondack Forest Preserve out my back door forces me to see a landscape of detail, within a few feet, full of the rich greens and browns of the Northern Boreal forest. So, when I travel to that other world that amazes me, the coast—Cape Breton, Ocracoke, NC or Sanibel Island, FL in particular— I am amazed by a world of practically endless horizons, barren of trees, blasted by wind or lit by an entirely different sunlight. I ricochet between the three worlds in my paintings, and am happy for it.”
Favorite Memory
Though I watched the Opera House’s rebirth from afar while away in Boston at art school, my friends John Blackmore, Chuck Hinckley, Tony Santa Croce and Tim Walsh were in the thick of the planning in the earliest days. So I’ve been rooting for the EOH since the days when it was just a dream.
And since I met my wife, Kevan Moss, while I was living on West Main Street and she on East Main Street, and then spent many wonderful years after playing for and then managing the Earlville Town Baseball Team, it was a goal to have a solo exhibit at the Opera House once I devoted full time to being a painter. That happened in November, 2018, with a joyous opening filled with Central NY friends and neighbors—fellow artists, ex-Earlville teammates, Colgate classmates, staff and faculty and loads of fine folks I hadn’t seen in ages.
I have been lucky to have a number of other art exhibits and openings before and since, but that day was absolutely the best and I will always remember it. Thank you, Earlville Opera House!
Valery Sutherland
Short Bio
I made sculptures for more than two decades before returning to painting in 2011. Had one person exhibitions in NYC, CT, NJ and MA.
Artist Statement
My focus has changed with age. I make paintings that are concerned with time and how a landscape alters over the years. The forest that surrounds my house is a major influence.
Favorite Memory
I had a one person exhibition in the East Gallery in 2009. Other than a few drawing, I exhibited both wall and free-standing sculptures. There was a very nice reception which was well attended. I enjoyed talking about my artwork to some of the attendees.
James K. Loveless
Short Bio
Professor Emeritus of Art and Art History at Colgate University, Jim received his M.F.A from Indiana University and was a fellow at both Yaddo and the Millay Colony. His paintings have been shown extensively in 22 one man shows and in 15 selected group exhibitions. His artwork is represented in over 20 public and corporate collections as well as in over 200 private collections across the US, UK, and Canada and over 40 private collections in and around the Hamilton area.
Artist Statement
Although I like to think of myself as a conduit, I get a fresh new start on each work. Each is a kind of risk-taking- each an opportunity to test my imaginative powers, my painterly instincts, and that most essential ingredient of all: luck. The underlying themes or trends that interest me when I adopt the post of artist/viewer are those not always self-evident to me in daily studio routine where I am more preoccupied with each painting individually.
In my paintings I hold to lines, colors, values, surfaces, measure and a host of pictorial effects such as light, rhythm, and balance as the ingredients that must be resolved. I encourage the viewer to become responsive to the expressive powers of these elements and effects, to enter and participate with my images as I intend.
Favorite Memory
It has been my honor and pleasure to be invited to show my work here at the EOH Gallery. Over the years we have formed a professional, productive and very pleasant relationship that has enhanced my artistic life. The quality and diversity of programming that the EOH brings to the region enriches our lives and its positive reputations increases each year.