Emporium Framing and Gallery, Gallery Exhibits

Current Exhibit

Flora Fragment 7 Small Works Exhibit will open November 18 and run through February 3, 2012. Join us for an open house Friday, December 2 from 5–8 PM, the night of the Stroll and Shop event in downtown South Berwick, Maine.

The Small Works exhibit features regional artist in an array of mediums including tapestry of Janet Austin, E. Greenwich, RI; watercolor of Cori Caputo, Nottingham, NH; digital collage by Donna Catanzaro, Windham, NH; watercolor of Tess Feltes, Portsmouth, NH; mixed media of Judith Heller-Cassell, Rochester, NH; mixed media collage of Ethel Hills, Hampton, NH; mixed media fiber of Laura Morrison, Concord, NH; fiber of Suzanne Pretty, Farmington, NH; mixed media of Gail Smuda, Concord, NH; acrylics of Susan Schwake, Rochester , NH; fiber collages of Wen Redmond, Rochester, NH plus many regional artists and turned wooden inlaid boxes from the Ukraine.

Janet Austin states "My tapestries grow out of my drawings and paintings; they have to sit around for years before they ripen into material for my tapestry designs. I make color copies, I cut out pieces that interest me, then enlarge them, and play with them some more until finally I have a tapestry cartoon." Landscape Progression #6

Ethel Hills believes "I believe we are more connected to land and place than we realize. We carry with us the memory of places we have known intimately, places where we felt safe, places where we felt joy or peace, all those special places that continue to elicit an emotional response many years later. This connection between landscape, emotion, and memory is the basis for my paintings. The small scale mixed media paintings that I now create reflect my passion for color, my semi-abstract take on the world, and my use of landscape imagery. These elements contribute to my goal of producing paintings that remind the viewer of their own connections, their own memories, their own special places."

Donna Catanzaro states " I am a collector, but instead of objects, I collect images: photos of people and objects from old books, instructional manuals, cookbooks, magazines, and photos that I take myself of steamrollers, Virgin Mary statuettes and skies. I see the world as potential parts of a collage – possible interesting backdrops or funky main characters.... I Dreamed I was Pumping Gas in my Underwear

With all these images I create amusing yet sobering, dream-like digital collages with my favorite tool, Adobe Photoshop. I research topics and then juxtapose my own photographs, artwork and text with vintage graphics to create new realities and make comments on popular culture. I examine such issues as feminism, gender, women’s issues, politics, war, the environment and more. My goal is to entice the viewer into the piece through amusement, and then, subtly, challenge them with an underlying complex or sober comment. If I can educate or affect just one viewer to question our culture, then I feel I have accomplished my goal.

Wen Redmond discusses her process "I am a mixed media fiber artist. I am a process person. My process is fed by my love of being outdoors. I’m passionate about coming up with ideas and working out the kinks. This leads to more discoveries, an evolution. I make the art and then the art makes me. Lobsta Cove

Part of that process is photography. I can see the most exquisite scenes or combinations of patterns and want to share that beauty. My art represents these moments.

They are what lie beneath. I bring them back to share, to remind, to remember. These moments become my source, my well. I hope to bring that energy into my art.

Fiber art has sustained my creative impulses since 1975. It is a fluid and expanding art form. I enjoy pushing the boundaries to see ‘what if’.

Flora Fragment 7, (upper right) by Janet Austin, tapestry
Landscape Progressions #6, (middle right) by Ethel Hills, mixed media collage
I Dreamed I was Pumping Gas in my Underwear, (lower left)
by Donna Catanzaro, digital collage
Lobsta Cove, (lower right) by Wen Redmond, fiber collage

Previous Exhibits and Gallery Artists

Reflections on a Garden, Summer 11
Life is Colorful: Works of Ethel Hills, Spring 11
Tactile Surfaces, Judith Heller Cassell, Janet Carlson, Suzanne Pretty, Julie Serrano 11
Holiday Exhibit 2010, Tess Feltes, Suzanne Pretty , Robert Roux, Winter 10
Embroidered Stories by Jill Snyder Wallace, Fall 10
Inner Garden: Photographs by Susan Lirakis, Summer 10
Maidens of Pharos by Cori Caputo, watercolors, Spring 10
Pat Giebutowski and Suzanne Pretty, Reflections, Winter 10
Tess Feltes, Ethel Hills and Robert Roux, Holiday 09
Judith Heller Cassell and Suzanne Pretty, Fall 09
Media - Mixed and Otherwise, Gail Smuda, Summer 09
Resurgence, WCA-NH, Spring 09
Exhibit of George Longfish & Carly Glovinski, Summer 08
Donna Catanzaro, Universe of Wit & Irony, Spring 08
Dimensions in Fiber & Print: Janet Carlson & Sue Pretty, Spring 07
Laura Morrison: Mixed Media and Commentary, Fall 07
Judy Cassell and Robert Roux, Fall, 06