Nancy Libby, an abstract artist and a member of the Rock River Studio Tou
BROOKLINE — Joining the Rock River Artists sounded fun and enjoyable to Nancy Libby.
“It’s good to be with other creative minds,” Libby said. “I hope that people take the time to get out to the tour and see a bunch of beautiful artwork.”
This marks Libby’s first year on the RRA’s Annual Open Studio Tour, happening 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, July 18 and 19. The 33rd annual event features 11 accomplished artists and craftspeople, and allows visitors to get a behind-the-scenes look into the spots where each artist works.
Libby said her studio on Hill Road in Brookline sits on top of a pasture with “a really pretty view of Putney Mountain.” Her work is abstract mixed media.
Nancy Libby, an abstract artist and a member of the Rock River Studio Tour, uses her fingers to blend the paint seamlessly into a piece that she is working on. Purchase local photos online.
Currently, Libby has focused on some larger pieces.
“They’re fairly bright with oranges and reds and various shades within,” she said.
Libby said she’s been painting on and off for about 30 years. A few years ago, she retired from managing teams and projects for software development companies.
“I’m grateful, just so happy, that I get to spend my time creating,” she said.
Libby has exhibited work in various galleries and been in solo and group shows.
Ed Jekot is another new face on the tour. The painter, sculptor and ceramicist has a studio on Route 30 inside an art gallery, 1330 Gallery, where he has exhibited work by local artists for more than a year and a half. Thirteen is his favorite number and 30 refers to Route 30.
Jekot said the tour is “pretty cool.”
“There’s a lot of studios in the woods,” he said. “There’s a lot of artists that people just don’t know about.”
Jekot recently worked on 3D encaustic wall sculptures.
“I like to explore process, so this is a couple of different processes,” he said. “It’s a combination of sculpture and painting.”
Jekot said he likes to work on “more narrative things.”
“So I’m going to try to put some of this idea and learnings into a body of work that has more meaning and is not just representational,” he said.
Gianna Robinson, who also has a studio on Route 30 in Newfane, is mostly focused on abstract art at the moment, aside from a few a commissions for people.
“Really the inspiration is finding some relaxation, finding some peace, feeling some freedom … having somewhere to go and process and surprise myself,” she said. “It’s not something that I thought I’d ever get into because I’ve never understood abstract but it’s fun not really having to know what something means. It can mean freedom and peace.”
In her fifth year of participating in the tour, Robinson said she has way more art than she could ever show. Her plan is to curate her space to display her newer abstracts and paintings in various stages. She also is set to have a future exhibit with family members who are artists.
Her mother, Deidre Scherer of Williamsville, is part of the tour. Her work was included in a chapter of “After Shock,” a book by Dr. Rana Awdish which aims to make health care more empathetic.
Scherer’s “Surrounded by Family & Friends” is described on dscherer.com as “a series of six thread-on-fabric tableaus that depict culturally diverse family groups and individuals who are caring for a loved one who is dying.”
“This work invites a broad spectrum of response about dying as a natural part of life within the context of community and relationship,” the website states.
Scherer, who received a Fine Arts Fellowship from the Open Society’s Project on Death in America to complete the series, was honored by the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine’s 2008 Humanities Award and the Rhode Island School of Design’s 2010 Alumni Association Award for Artistic Achievement “for the innovative medium of textile art she has developed, and for her thought-provoking investigations of our society’s views of aging, reflections on life, death, family relationships and the welfare of future generations.”
Other artists on the tour include Brittany Bills-Coleman, Chris Darrow, Richard Foye, GR Studio, Matthew Tell, T. Breeze Verdant, and Noelle VanHendrick and Eric Hendrick of ZPOTS.
Visitors are encouraged to pick up a map and start their RRA tour at the South Newfane Schoolhouse at 390 Dover Road, where samples of each artist’s work can be viewed. From there one begins a self-guided tour of studios, all within short driving distance. More information is available at rockriverartists.com.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.reformer.com ’
