Area’s creativity palette returns: Weekend event spans the county

Aug 27, 2023

By Susan Forrester Mackay

Visit regional artists during the annual Chautauqua-Lake Erie Open Studio and Gallery Tour which takes place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 2 and 3, during Labor Day Weekend. Discover the places where artists work while enjoying the landscape that inspires them. Meet painters, potters, photographers, sculptors, fabric artists, jewelers and stained-glass artists. Find favorite new works and purchase treasures to be enjoyed at home.

Artists featured include:

¯ Melissa Meyers — Melissa’s passion for art is one that loves to explore new ideas, new media, and use materials in ways they were not intended for. Sometimes even with good results. Her inspiration is found mainly in nature, which abounds in Chautauqua County. She works in traditional mediums, as well as alcohol inks, photography and mixed media. www.whiteporchstudios.com [email protected]

¯ Tim Sivertsen — I’ve been working on several different tangents of late. There is a developing series of monochromatic pastel/charcoal landscapes on paper. There is also an ongoing series of fanciful figures in motion (pastel and acrylic). I also have an ongoing series of monocromatic pastel portraits of females in the works. Call 716-220-3735 [email protected]

¯ Thomas Annear — Adventure meets quiet contemplation in my paintings. From the snow capped peaks of the Tetons to the old growth forests of Western New York his paintings capture the grandeur and beauty of the American landscape. For nearly 20 years, I have sought to capture the unique geography, weather patterns, and natural resources of Western New York through my plein air paintings. http://www.thomasannear.com/ [email protected]

By Janet Mandel

¯ Marcia Merrins — Marcia sculpts a wonderful menagerie of wood fired and raku animal pieces, from hippos to elephants, that are fun and collectible. She is drawn to whimsy and her work reflects what she finds in contemporary footwear and clothing. Fairy houses are new in the studio and adorable. When you make something with your hands, you put your heart into it too. Those who experience your creation will feel the tug on their own heart – a strange and very real phenomenon. [email protected], knitigritiworks,com, 716-672-4275, https://www.facebook.com/KnitiGritiWorks,

¯ Audrey Kay Dowling — I use my work to convey a deep appreciation of the natural world. Form is beautiful, color is exciting, movement is visually stimulating, and texture and patterns open inspire me to express myself. I enjoy using many different art mediums. After teaching for 30 years, I am now a full time award winning artist and gallery owner of Portage Hill Gallery. https://www.audreykaydowling.com www.portagehillgallery.com/

¯ Jim and Pat Reno — Jim and Pat Reno have been making pottery for over 40 years at their location at 6007 Centralia-Hartfield Rd., Dewittville. They are open daily by chance or appointment, and can be reached at 716-753-7551 or [email protected]. Their website is www.renopottery.com. Stop by to see their new, highly decorated designs, which include Woodpeckers, Dragons and Rhinos.

¯ Susan Gutierrez — I am an artist living in Jamestown. Chautauqua County has been my home for 41 years. Through my art I try to capture the life and energy that surrounds us. I use mostly a palette knife to pay tribute to the beauty that encompasses this region. I hope that my paintings can be a conduit for viewers to recall a memory, stir an emotion, or transport them somewhere familiar. [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/thepapercrane14/

¯ Denise Williams — The Living Glass Gallery is now located at 71 East Main Street, in the beautiful historic downtown of Westfield. Living Glass Gallery is a proud sponsor of the Chautauqua-Lake Erie Art Trail and features original glass work by artist and owner Williams, along with displays of work by several local artists working in pottery, sea glass jewelry, photography, painting, soft sculpture and ceramic sculpture. [email protected], http://www.livingglassgallery.com/

By Susan Gutierrez

¯ Kirsten Engstrom — Evidence of Kirsten Engstrom’s sculptural work can be seen on the grounds of Chautauqua Institution and throughout the area. Stop by her studio in Mayville to meet Kirsten and ask about her creative process. [email protected]

¯ Janet Mandel — Mandel received her training in fine arts from Mercyhurst U. in Erie, Pa. She began her career as a fashion illustrator, and received national acclaim in fashion, fiber arts and portraiture before focusing her work exclusively on wildlife. Her wildlife work has been published and sold by the National Audubon Society, National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Institution and HSUS among others. Contact: www.janetmandel.com email: janet–[email protected]

¯ Paula Coats — I am Paula Coats of pc:) pottery. I fashion decorative and functional pottery using primarily hand-building techniques. I am fascinated with adding texture to the pieces because of the beautiful ways they accept the glazes that I use. You can contact me at [email protected].

Seri Beeson — Curator Of Shiny Objects Studios. As long as I can remember, I’ve been collecting and making things. My training is informal and ongoing, with handmade items created from bits of fabric, glass, and stone. COSO Studios focuses on casual, everyday objects of adornment and holding. Current fixations are hand-crocheted jewelry with “found” pottery, glass, and stone and an assortment of handmade crossbody bags from upholstery fabrics. [email protected]

¯ Lynda Graham-Barber –A writer by profession, I had my first adult painting instruction at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where I stared at a single red rose, trying to replicate that velvety wonder. Over the next four decades, I experimented with several media. I take special pleasure in giving a makeover to forgotten furnishings and accessories, incorporating paper ephemera and painting techniques, everything from whiplashing paint from chopsticks to spraying water-based paint with alcohol to create a faux finish. lyndagrahambarber.com, [email protected], 716-232-4283.

Sarah Brown-Millspaw — Watercolor illustration artist Sarah Brown-Millspaw lives on a small farm outside of Westfield. Passionate about nature, animals, and the joys of childhood, these themes often surface in her whimsical work. Sarah has been creating art her whole life and has been painting full time since 2020. In recent years, turning her watercolor paintings into surface patterns and fabric designs has become an integral part of her creative process. Sarah’s work can be found on Instagram @sarahgeebee.art

¯ Keith Callen — The beauty and solace of texture and light inspires me to recreate joyous experiences of nature and humanity. Through our challenges and delights, our species grows with greater understanding and appreciation of the divine spark within us. In my work, I explore how pattern and color create visual dimension and an emotional response that is activating and illuminating. Whether in my hand-woven home decor or in my figurative painting, I seek to share my experience of the divine. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089474805934

¯ Peter Hamilton — “Woodworking/Repurposed materials/Kinetic sculpture/Deco-functional fixtures/Eclectic furniture/Usable handheld items. Many of my wood pieces have been made from found materials: discarded cherry headboards; table parts; cabinet doors. Much of my work reflects a mood at the time, or a particular detail that carries onto another piece, or a frivolous impulse to make mock sticks of butter, or a representative subject in sculpture. Brass, copper. [email protected] 716-234-4010

¯ Susan Forrester-Mackay — I am a child of the ’60s when beauty, love and peace were going to change the world. I create artwork because the beauty of the process is the best mind- altering state I have ever known. The need to touch, feel, respond and communicate human emotions within the landscape of the human form is enormous. The subject of human beings and their interactions is an endless source of fascination for me; hence, most of my work is figurative and evocative, focusing on the variety of everyday human gesture. [email protected]

¯ Susan Simmons — Simmons paints landscape, figurative and abstract paintings in oil, acrylic, and watercolor. She received her most recent award in Jamestown’s Roger Tory Peterson’s 2022 Inaugural Plein Air Festival. Susan paints from life, photos, and imagination, and is quite diverse in her styles. Susan resides in Jamestown. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SusanSimmons53/ website: www.susansimmonsart.com Phone: 425-330-6451

¯ Tom Janik — Tom is a retired chemistry professor. Along with his career in chemistry, Tom has had a lifelong interest in photography starting at the age of 11 with a Brownie camera. Tom’s photography is centered on landscapes and the natural world. Tom has a recent book of Lake Erie photographs available to see and/or purchase.

¯ Tina Ames — Tina was born and raised in WNY. Classically trained in the arts, she received her degree in the late ’80s. While raising two sons with her husband – she created many businesses including a Frame Shop/Gallery, Cafe, Gift Shop and Cookie Company… selling them successfully years later to move into the corporate world. A bad case of Shingles forced her to stay in bed for several months – allowing her to start “doodling” again with what she had – markers and paper. In 2014 Tina successfully started selling her inspirational prints, cards and card decks and is now in gift shops around the country.

¯ Patrick Stokes — I consider myself a portrait photographer whether my subject is a person or a landscape and I approach both with wonder, curiosity, and awe. I started my photographic journey in a dark room at 14 and over the years drifted in and out of capturing images over the years. Photography to me is time traveling and as an avid traveler and sci-fi enthusiast I hope someday a millennium from now someone will discover one of my images and be transported back in time. Please follow my explorations on Instagram or visit my website.

¯ Deb Eck — Debra Eck is a British artist living and working in the USA. She is an internationally exhibited mixed media artist whose work focuses on using thread, paper and text. Her work finds expression in repetitive making; most of her work requires tens, even hundreds, of hours of intensive hand labour to create; the meditative nature of this slow unfolding of the work allows for ideas to fully manifest, for the threads of thought to untangle and re-weave themselves into new forms.

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