Before
the camera became common artists were the illustrators of nature, the
drawings and paintings they created were taken to be "realistic"
renditions of the plants as subject in their work.
As an artist I now look at the work of botanical artists and believe that
while the scientific information displayed was important I think that the
artistic impulse was just as strong. The image I am really looking at is
the artist's idea of that object, whether it's a flower or fungus. Reality
could make room for a little drama.
I realized this when I plucked off a leaf from a stem of sumac leaves I was
considering painting. I felt guilty, wasn't I supposed to pick the object
because it was perfectly odd to begin with? "So what," I thought.
It looked better without the leaf.
Therefore, although my work at first glance may appear to be watercolors of
leaves and birch logs, look closer. My interests as an artist are in the
decay, fungus, mold, and imperfections that natural objects offer. As a
contemporary painter the tension between the marks the brush makes and the
illusion created are important, and so the surface of the paintings must be
of interest too. I use the object; the leaf, the stick, the log, and I
present them as I want, manipulated if necessary, to create my own reality.
www.katiedegroot.com
Shannon Drowne
X2777
Laura Frare
Laura Frare earned a Bachelor of Science
in Visual Arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz and a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from
The University at Albany.
Her work has been exhibited regionally, including the Visual Arts Gallery
at ACC, the Yates Gallery at SienaCollege, The Albany Center
Galleries, the Albany Institute of History and Art, the University at AlbanyMuseum,
She lives and works in an old schoolhouse in Saratoga county with her husband Nicholas
Warner and their black pug, Bianca.
X2777
John Hampshire
“Unfinished Self”
Below: “In the
Studio with Zephyr”
John Hampshire is Assistant Professor of Art and the Studio Arts
Coordinator at AdirondackCommunity College.He received his Bachelor of Science in
the Arts from SkidmoreCollege in 1994 and
his Master of Fine Arts in painting from SUNY Albany in 1997.His paintings and drawings have been
exhibited extensively in the northeast as well as nationally and
internationally, including the Phoenix Gallery, the Soho
20 Gallery and Washington Square East Gallery in NYC, the Walsh Gallery at GeorgetownUniversity
and the LlantarnamGrange Gallery in Cardiff, Wales UK.He resides in Troy, NY
with his wife, Mary Beth, and 4 dachshunds.
Victoria Palermo earned a
Bachelor of Science in Art degree from SkidmoreCollege and a Master of Fine Arts
degree from BenningtonCollege.Her work has been exhibited in numerous
solo and group shows nationally and internationally, including a two person
show at the Visual Arts Gallery at ACC, as well as in exhibitions at WilliamsCollege, the John Davis Gallery, Art
in General, White Columns, and ART OMI.Her website is: www.victoriapalermo.com
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