Press Kit

Press Kit

In the downloads, you will find the press release: "Open Studios Promotes Artful Living", photographs and the artists' statements. A map of the tour is available to the right of this column.

The first three sets of photos contains a picture of the artist, their studio and their work. These photos are 72ppi at 8 x 10 inches. 300ppi photos at 8 x 10 inches of all these photos are available upon request -- email request to: mlparke@hotmail.com I have also included a sampling of some artists' work in 300 ppi at 8 x 10 inches.

The first group of photos is of the artists new to the tour this year: Art Poulin, Arlene Targan, Patty Happy, Regina Wickham and Jim Schanz.

The second group includes the returning 2-dimensional artists: Joan Duff-Bohrer, Hannie Eisma Varosy, Leslie Ann Peck, Virginia McNeice, Leslie Parke, Adriano Manocchia and Will Moses.

The third group includes the returning 3-dimensional artists: Gyula Varosy, Serena Kovalosky and Ed Hepp.

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Here is the text of the press releases and artist statements:

For Immediate Release

Contact: Leslie Parke
Tel. (518) 677-8872
Email:info@leslieparke.com
Website: http://www.StudioTour.org

Open Studios of Washington County promotes "Artful Living"

WASHINGTON COUNTY, NY – The third Open Studios of Washington County biennial will take place Saturday, July 16 and Sunday, July 17, 2011 from 10am-5pm.

Tucked away in farmhouses, barns and old factories throughout the rural villages of Salem, Cambridge, Eagle Bridge, Hartford and Greenwich, NY, fifteen of the area’s finest professional artists invite the public into their studios for this free, self-guided tour. Carousel-style rocking horses, fine gourdwork, bronze sculpture, ceramics, mixed media constructions, folk art, paintings and pastels highlight the cultural wealth of this vibrant artist community.

New to this year’s tour are folk artist Art Poulin, painters Arleen Targan, Patty Happy, and Jim Schanz, and ceramicist Regina Wickham. Returning artists are Will Moses, Hannie Varosy, Joan Duff-Bohrer, Ed Hepp, Serena Kovalosky, Adriano Manocchia, Leslie Parke, Leslie Anne Peck, Virginia McNeice, and Gyula Varosy.

The first Open Studios event took place in 2007, drawing visitors and art collectors from as far away as New Zealand. “People were visibly inspired by the beauty of our rural landscape and impressed with the quality and professionalism of the artists on the tour,” says Open Studios founder and artist Serena Kovalosky. “The relaxed atmosphere and intimacy of each studio made it easy for visitors to fully appreciate the artwork and strike up conversations with the artists. We encourage visitors to get to know their favorite artists, to develop a relationship with them so they can make an informed purchase of their work.”

"The Open Studios weekend is a mini-vacation from the everyday world featuring an immersion into the joys of artful living," says Open Studios director Sue Sanderson. "Each visitor experiences the creative forces of Washington County - from the beautiful drives through the county, the conversations with the artists, the experience of each studio, and the hundreds of diverse works that they will see in this two-day period."

Open Studios and its sponsors will host a complimentary reception for all tour visitors at the Freight Depot at Hubbard Hall on Saturday, July 16 from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Visitors will enjoy hors d'oeuvres by Spoonful Catering, wine, and a chance to to meet with all the artists and other Open Studios visitors and to share stories and discoveries of the day.

The 2011 Open Studios of Washington County is sponsored by Reynolds Real Estate, Hark Publishing, Sipperly Contracting, Baker Insurance Agency Hubbard Hall, Glens Falls National Bank, and many others. The event will take place from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday, July 16 & 17, 2011. Visitors can join the Open Studio mailing list and order a brochure online or download a map from the Open Studios website.

For more information, visit: www.studiotour.org or call (518) 692-2742

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Open Studios of Washington County: Artist Statements

Adriano Manocchia

"My paintings are my emotions; I paint what attracts me. While painting places I’ve observed, I enhance my images through positional means, bringing them closer to the ideals upheld in a bygone age of painting."

Arleen Targan

"My painting begins with a love of drawing, of getting down to the `gesture' of the land or the object in a still life. My painting is a process and not a means to an end. Color gives the greatest pleasure. I seek to surprise myself and the viewer as well."

Art Poulin

"I am captivated by the simplicity and charm of small town America and the details of everyday living. So, in my artwork, I try to reflect that admiration. It’s my hope that my landscapes become a reprieve from our hectic lifestyles by offering an escape to a time and place where life is more gentle and authentic."

Ed Hepp

“My rocking horses, carved in the tradition of the master carvers of the carousel, are usable heirlooms that can be passed down from generation to generation. It’s my small way of perpetuating the romance of the carousel horse”

Hannie Varosy

"I am inspired by much – by my family, friends and students – by what they say and think. I am inspired by nature, by inanimate things and shapes, by concepts, by what goes on in the world, by Life. I say “It is always busy in my head.” I try to practice silence, and “distill” my topics, as they surface spontaneously."

Jim Schanz

Lately I've been wandering around in the woods with my sketchbook. I bring sketches back to my studio and expand some them into paintings. Most of these depict trees in both standing and reclining poses. The interior off the forests offers many complex compositional opportunities. Shapes move every which-way and light punches through the coloring filter of the leaf canopy.

Joan Duff Bohrer

Currently I find my subject matter through random drawing and color application. I find my current focus is on birds, for I am interested in their non-verbal communication and industriousness and instinctive response to the seasons. I see them as examples of freedom in the natural world and like to think that some of this freedom of the spirit can be part of human life.

My paintings are arrived at by multi-layering line and color. Subject matter often includes birds, flowers, and words, as icons of fragility, transience and emotional association. I have been influenced by the direct, instinctual approach of children’s art.

Leslie Parke

"I create abstract pictures from real subject matter. My subjects – water, trees, crystal, china, recycled bales of paper and cans –become vehicles for shapes, color, space and most importantly light."

Leslie Peck

"Painting farm animals and still lifes of the products of our region is one of my great passions. Each animal has a noble purpose in this world and I try to bring out the subtle beauty and simplicity of their nature .I have found the same eloquence in the vegetables, eggs or even bread that I try to portray my oil paintings."

Patty Happy

"I view a paintbrush as one of the simplest yet greatest tools of expression. Like a pen to a writer, the brush can paint a picture, tell a story, release an inner thought, set a mood, or capture a moment in time."

Regina Wickham

“I am a vessel maker; clay is the skin to contain a volume, defining and incorporating space. Glazes juxtapose color and texture: painting landscape, seascape, night sky.”

“The volumes and layers of the landscape of Washington Country inform my work as does the Chinese ceramic tradition which is my inspiration. I study their classic forms to understand the success of their curves, the space they envelop, and the space they exclude. I am a modern colorist painting my vessels with glazes that echo the earth and sky; making marks and drawing curves reflective of landscape.”

Serena Kovalosky

I am inspired by ancient vessels and spent many years researching the spiritual implications behind tribal art. Gourds have a deep connection to these art forms, and my work is a bridge from the tribal to the contemporary realm.

Virginia McNeice

"I am fascinated by the shape of the landscape: how it changes from moment to moment, the putting of one color against another, the darkness against the light, and then to make it all work together."

Will Moses

My paintings are often times a patchwork of color and activity, woven together to depict scenes of an earlier time when life was simpler and tradition and community were the anchor bolts of society. I have been painting most of my life and it seems these scenes of old time rural life are what I am best known for.