Eleven children, eight adults and some former students will be displaying their artwork in May and June 2016 at the Dutch Ale House in Saugerties. Curator Douglas Daniel Elliot will hang over 100 works of art salon-style on three walls of the restaurant. There will be an awards ceremony at 5 pm and the public is invited to the reception beginning at 4pm – Free Event – Some works are for sale (Featured photo is of a portion of a past annual at the Dutch)
Star Nigro graduated from the Art Institute of Boston, Ma. with a BFA in Photography in 1999. Soon after, the Art Institute was renamed Art & Design School of Lesley University. Nigro studied graphic design and was highly esteemed by her professors for her original concepts. She chose the following winners among ten participants.
Honorable Mentions: Tyler Siracusano age 8, Cassidi Vedder age 10, Anna Sweeney age 12 and Kyla Misasi age 13.
The Columbia-Greene Community College will host an art show of works by Phyllis McCabe and Kristy Bishop during the month of March. In the Blue Hill Gallery of the college, located at 4400 Route 23, Hudson, NY 12534 (518-828-4181)www.sunycgcc.edu – visitors are welcome during the following hours: Mon.- Thurs. 8 am – 8 pm; Fri. 8 am – 4:30 pm Sat. 9 am – 5 pm and closed Sunday.
During those 40 years of friendship, we have encouraged each other to develop our talents and pursue careers in these fields of art. We met at the Ulster Library Fair in the summer of 1975 and became fast friends. She was exhibiting her photographs and I was exhibiting my paintings side by side on a fence on the library property along with many other artists. We both won awards in our separate categories: The judges included: Charles Bryson, Richard Jeffrey, Shelagh Young, Richard Wolter and William Gallagher.
The artwork (some 60 works in all) in the upcoming show at the college will feature what inspired us over the years.
In small art classes – no more than 5 at a time, Kristy gives positive feedback to artists of all ages. Bella is exceptionally talented and listens carefully to instructions. Autumn Stever (15) is the teaching assistant for this class of 5 – 8 year olds which meets every Wednesday at 4- 5 pm for a 10-month season. (Short summer workshops are available in July and August.) Bella loves thick acrylic paint, gouache and transparent watercolor. Her artwork is beautiful and as a highlight, she has good character. She has won several awards for being the most encouraging and complimentary young student toward her fellow classmates in art class.
Kingston artist, Patti Gibbons will demonstrate oil painting without harmful chemicals at the Senior Center, corner of Robinson and Market Streets, Saugerties, NY at 7 pm on March 1, 2016 Tuesday. She says, “The studio is a dream world. Once the door is closed and the outside world is shut out, it is an escape to a place of wonder, exploration and adventure.”
Patti will bring examples of her oil paintings, mixed media and abstract art and discuss techniques and materials. She will discuss the role of her love of old paper and bring examples of how she incorporates them into her work and the role that collage has in providing a method of healing and growth. In conclusion, Patti will explain how her four year study of abstract work has opened up an entirely new vocabulary and method of tapping into her subconscious and its role in developing what is her most original work to date.
Her websites: pagibbonsstudio.com pagibbonsstudio.blogspot.com pagibbons.com
Guests are welcome to attend the UCAA meetings – First Tuesday of every month. FMI: 845-246-8835 Kristy Bishop, UCAA President
UCAA hosted an art show on Feb. 2, 2016 which was judged by award-winning painter Elin Menzies at the Senior Center in Saugerties, New York. Pictured here (L-R): Best of Show (painting) Patrick Buonfiglio; Best of Show (photo) Harriet Yaun; Honorable Mention (painting) Jeff Helmuth; Awards of Excellence (paintings) Ann Bergin, Laura Van Vlack and Agnes Barber; art judge: Elin Menzies.
Monthly meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month at 7 pm at the Senior Center, corner of Robinson and Market Streets, Saugerties, NY. Guests are welcome to attend. Annual membership fee: $20 Associate membership: $10 FMI: call 845-246-8835
Next UCAA meeting: March 1, 2016 – Demonstration by Patti Gibbons, fine artist, designer and teacher who works out of her studio in Kingston, NY. Her body of work is diverse: she explores the poetic nature of the landscape in oils, her body of narrative mixed media work reflects her love of telling intimate stories, and her abstract drawings emerge from the subconscious, synthesizing the past, present, the seen and the unseen.
The following adult students will be participating in our 8th Annual Holiday Art Show at Lox of Bagels Shop, 3101 Route 9W, Saugerties, NY for the month of December 2015: Ruth Bach-Dhondy, Agnes Barber, Patrick Buonfiglio, Diane Cavallaro, Jo Cicale, Teresa Herzog, Donna Newkirk, Lucille Otto. Young artists (ages 5 – 15) from the studio will be exhibiting their artwork as well.
There will be a Popular Vote Contest conducted during the first hour of the reception – The public is invited.
“My goal as an artist is to serve mankind at the deepest level of my spiritual development through the expression of painting, writing and public speaking.”
My maternal grandmother, Izah Clark, was attuned to my artistic ability when I was a baby. While I was sitting on her lap, I would trace the intricate designs on her dress with my right index finger. She advised my mother to be sure to get art lessons for me at a young age. Since there were artists in my family, both heredity and environment played a natural part in fostering my interest in art. My cousins, Don and Ruth Clark were artists. They attended the Massachusetts College of Art (circa 1920.)
I am the third of four children born in the George and Kathleen Clark Bishop family. I was born in 1951. My mother saved some of my drawings from age 4 or 5 because they showed exceptional ability. Soon after my grandmother passed away in 1958, I received art lessons from a professional artist Bessie Higgins (1897-1995) in Presque Isle, Maine. Higgins studied at the Massachusetts College of Art and taught there until she moved to Presque Isle in 1928.
Drawing and painting have always given me great joy. The process gives me such elation that I do it on a regular basis. If I don’t create for awhile, I feel an urging in my spirit to get back to it. I give God the credit for both my talent and for the desire to study fine art; also, improve my work and share that knowledge with others. God has given us all the ability to create. Some can develop it faster than others.
My passion for sharing and teaching began when I was six years old. I would demonstrate how to draw Donald Duck on a blackboard in our farmhouse kitchen to a number of neighborhood children. My mother documented my progress with photographs.
Teaching is natural for me. I began teaching art privately as a profession in Saugerties, New York in 1977 after studying at the Art Students League. New adult student, Mary Rell wrote in an email to me on 7-16- 2013, “What fun!! I was thrilled to be a part of your talented group. I do not have anyone to compare you to but I can honestly say I found you to be wonderful and easy to learn from. That in itself is quite a skill. Some people have the knowledge but cannot convey the information to others well. My husband was so impressed that he wanted to frame my work…I am still shocked that I was able to accomplish the painting.” (This was her first art class.)
For me, teaching a variety of techniques is the easiest part of being an instructor. However, a real mentor needs to be capable of instilling confidence in the student. I am so passionate concerning my mission as a teacher that many my students set up their own studios at home and continue to practice between classes. Reportedly, my enthusiasm is contagious! My spiritual quest to know God and seek His Will has influenced my passion for art. I am so grateful for this. There is so much beauty that God has created in this world. It exists in every landscape and still life….even in abstraction. More over, beauty can be found in every individual as long as he or she is reacted to with forgiveness and love. I listen as well as look. I have devoted all these years to developing the gift that God has given me.
I love it!” Teaching art, at this studio has been one of my main purposes in life since 1977. More than 800 beginning students have participated in painting and drawing classes, ages 6 through 85. Many friends have been made over the years as a result of this mission in Saugerties, NY.
Kristy Bishop, aged 16. Fort Fairfield, Maine won Runner -Up in a national dress design contest in the magazine “New Ideas for Teens” 1968 along with five others artists across the United States. The Grand Prize winner was Michael McCowan, 15, Jackson, Mississippi with a pale yellow silk dress and coat with black herringbone stripes.
This design was published in the magazine (pictured above.) Black and gold homespun dress belted in soft black leather with matching collar and cuffs.
My mother, Kathleen C. Bishop made sure that I had every opportunity to dress well in our rural Fort Fairfield, Maine. (I received the honor of being voted “Best Dressed” my senior year of High School.) Mom sent checks to Vogue magazine advertisers for any clothing that I desired to have back in the late 1960’s. I studied all the magazines and listened to stories about my distant cousin, dress designer: Jessica McClintock. Jessica’s mother, Verna Hendrick invited me to show a painting in the inaugural art show at the Presque Isle, University of Maine Art Gallery in 1969. I have no record of that exhibited painting of a nude woman riding a Harley Davidson chopped motorcycle. It was lost in California at a later date.
A few of my paintings have not been found over the years. One, a pastel of Charles Bronson in a saddle 12″ x 9″ was stolen from Howard Johnson Motel Lobby Solo Art Show- Saugerties, NY in 1973. It was copied in pastel chalk from a photograph of the actor. The other pastels in the show were of nude models that I painted at the Woodstock summer school, the Art Students League, of which I sold one for $25. The price on Bronson was $100. It was my best portrait to date.
Common Loon paintings by Kristy Bishop are on display at the Sawyer Savings Bank along with artworks by adult art students from KBS Kristy Bishop Studio: Patrick Buonfiglio, Jo Cicale, Donna Newkirk and Teresa Herzog. A variety of subjects include: Twilight Park, antique car, Bach farm, Kaaterskill Falls, Catskill mountains, etc.