A group of fine art printmakers who continue to find inspiration in techniques that are centuries old highlight their craft in their seventh annual "Making an Impression" exhibit, opening tomorrow in Sargent Gallery at the Newburyport Art Association.
The show is one of three vying for attention this weekend at the art association at 65 Water St. in Newburyport.
The eight featured printmakers say that in today's highly technical world of print media where digital images abound, they remain dedicated to some of the classic processes, often combining them with 21st century methods to unite the old with the new.
This year's show features a variety of printmaking methods, including monotype and monoprint, linoleum block prints, etching, collagraph and mixed media. Many of the artists showing their work have been involved with the art association's printmaking special interest group since its creation in 2004. The artists are:
Muriel Angelil of Amesbury, whose monotypes and mixed-media collages are often inspired by childhood memories of growing up in Egypt.
Susan Dosick of Newburyport, who creates linoleum block prints using an original process with puzzle-like pieces of foam as printing blocks.
Elaine Insero of Haverhill, a multi-media artist and printmaker who enjoys working with collage, often integrating digital images into them.
Susan Jaworski-Stranc of Lowell, who works with the challenging process of reduction linoleum prints, where forms are carved away as successive layers of the image are printed.
Barbara Nachmias-Kedesdy, who lives on the Parker River in Newbury, where a love of gardening and fascination with the history of botanical art serve as inspiration for her monotypes, which are impressionistic renderings of plant forms and the coastal landscape.
Mary Arthur Pollak of Ipswich, an artist with Indigo Artist Studio in Newburyport who concentrates on monotype and mixed-media, integrating print forms such as collagraph and etching into her works, which can be abstract or representational, spontaneous or deliberate.
Mary Tuttle of Salem, an elementary school art teacher and graphic designer who works primarily with monotype and etching, creating pieces informed by explorations with her students and narratives of everyday observation.
Mary Carolyn Webber of Milford, a painter and printmaker who enjoys incorporating collagraph into her monotypes and monoprints, which she says are inspired by "the natural world viewed through the lens of lyrical abstraction"
The exhibit runs through Aug. 11, and descriptions and demonstrations of the artists' processes, techniques and materials will accompany the show.
An opening reception takes place Saturday from 7 to 9 p.m. Demonstrations of reduction linoleum prints, mezzotints, foam block prints and other print-making techniques will be held on Saturday, Aug. 7, from 1 to 3 p.m.
Also at the art association, three area artists — two watercolorists and an oil painter — challenge the notion that oil and water don't mix. Anne Recchia, Michael Doran and Tony Cerra, who are all members of the Bridge Gallery artists cooperative on Water Street in Newburyport, are teaming up for a group show today through Aug. 3 in the association's Laura Coombs Hills' Gallery.
Recchia paints watercolor landscapes and rural scenes with what she calls "a lively freedom." A retired architect, Doran now enjoys rendering buildings and the occasional fantasy subject in watercolor. Cerra, meanwhile, is drawn to oils, depicting landscapes and shorelines with a feeling of depth that he hopes invites the viewer to explore.
An artists' reception for the "Oil & Water Can Mix" exhibit takes place tomorrow from 7 to 9 p.m.
Also, the adult students at the Newburyport Art Association are showing off their work in an exhibit in Hartson Gallery through Aug.11. A reception is Saturday, Aug. 7, from 7 to 9 p.m.
Gallery hours at the art association are Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Call 978-465-8769 or visit www.newburyportart.org for more.
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