IMPRINT at the George Marshall Store Gallery, York ME
In February 2017, I received an email from Mary Harding, the director of the George Marshall Store Gallery, asking to visit my studio. She was planning to show the work of Somerville artist, Wendy Prellwitz, and was looking for someone whose work would be a complement. She has a good curator's eye and could see that our work would go together very well. We each approach landscape in our own way, yet Mary -- and we --could see underlying relationships that would unify the exhibit. Mary had been referred to me by Bill Brayton, with whom I had shown a few months before in the exhibit, Inventing 3-D Landscapes. (See my first two blog posts.) and arrived at my studio with the exhibit already in mind. This is not my usual experience when a curator comes to my studio and a very welcome one. The studio visit was just confirmation that the work, in person, was what she had hoped for from looking at my website. A shout out to my photographer, Dean Powell and my website designer, Keyworth Graphics. Mary invited me to visit the gallery before agreeing to show there.
When I went to York the following month, I was impressed by the beauty of the site and location and I loved the gallery. The main space is large, airy, and well-proportioned, the smaller spaces well suited to showing a sole artist or small work . I saw the 2016-17 Winter Show; a diverse collection of art well arranged. It was easy to decide that, yes, I did want to exhibit there.
In February 2017, I received an email from Mary Harding, the director of the George Marshall Store Gallery, asking to visit my studio. She was planning to show the work of Somerville artist, Wendy Prellwitz, and was looking for someone whose work would be a complement. She has a good curator's eye and could see that our work would go together very well. We each approach landscape in our own way, yet Mary -- and we --could see underlying relationships that would unify the exhibit. Mary had been referred to me by Bill Brayton, with whom I had shown a few months before in the exhibit, Inventing 3-D Landscapes. (See my first two blog posts.) and arrived at my studio with the exhibit already in mind. This is not my usual experience when a curator comes to my studio and a very welcome one. The studio visit was just confirmation that the work, in person, was what she had hoped for from looking at my website. A shout out to my photographer, Dean Powell and my website designer, Keyworth Graphics. Mary invited me to visit the gallery before agreeing to show there.
When I went to York the following month, I was impressed by the beauty of the site and location and I loved the gallery. The main space is large, airy, and well-proportioned, the smaller spaces well suited to showing a sole artist or small work . I saw the 2016-17 Winter Show; a diverse collection of art well arranged. It was easy to decide that, yes, I did want to exhibit there.
In May, Mary came to Somerville again and spent time with both Wendy and me. The three of us visited both studios while Mary took photographs and decided on the pieces she wanted us to bring to Maine. We decided on an exhibition title : IMPRINT. " an exhibition making visual and thematic connections with the work by boston-based artists Phyllis Ewen and Wendy Prellwitz and New Hampshire ceramicist David Ernster." zine.artscopemagazine.com/artscope-magazine-ongoing/
IMPRINT was installed beautifully. As you come in, my work is on the left side of the gallery, Wendy's on the right One of my pieces was on a short wall on Wendy's side facing toward the main area and so allowed a few across the gallery to the installation of the majority of my pieces. The art on the walls is paired with arrangements of ceramic pieces that most resonated with our work. A small vestibule at the entrance had a work by each of us and you looked ahead to the wall with the two framed pieces of mine. Mary Harding is a gifted curator and a genius at using the space to best present the artwork.
Phyllis Ewen‘s mixed-media artwork is a fusion of art and science with an emphasis on the organic quality of nature. Her sculptural drawings present an exploration of the effects of global warming, such as drying rivers and rising seas. This subtle commentary on politics, society, and nature is a common thread throughout her work, no matter the medium.
www.georgemarshallstoregallery.com/phyllis-ewen-imprint/
Phyllis currently works in Somerville, Massachusetts at her studio in the Brickbottom Artist Building, of which she is a founding member.
www.georgemarshallstoregallery.com/phyllis-ewen-imprint/
Phyllis currently works in Somerville, Massachusetts at her studio in the Brickbottom Artist Building, of which she is a founding member.
The opening reception on July 15 was well attended - summer show. People wandered through the three exhibitions and out to the tents behind the gallery for food and drinks. Some of the gallery's 'regulars' had come in the days before to get a preview and both Wendy and I had sold a piece before the official opening. The ceramics continued to sell throughout the evening.
The July/August issue of ArtScope Magazine has a profile of the George Marshall Store Gallery which features our exhibit.
zine.artscopemagazine.com/2017/07/surprises-in-store-maines-contemporary-jewel/
zine.artscopemagazine.com/2017/07/surprises-in-store-maines-contemporary-jewel/