Stan Sperlak- A fine artist and a great lanscape designer!

Want a great road trip? Consider taking the Cape May Lewes Ferry or travel the Garden State Parkway to Cape May Court House where you will find Cape Shore Shore Gardens. This beautiful garden center is Stan Sperlak's business location, his home AND his studio and gallery. I think it is the most beautiful garden center I have ever seen. We stopped by several weeks ago at a time when most centers have "leftovers" and fading mums. Not Stan's! He has the most wonderful selection of plant materials that work in all seasons plus beautiful pots and containers as you would want them in your garden.  Seeing native plant materials mixed with hardy evergreens made it clear that Stan really understands the landscapes he loves to paint. Inspiration for his landscape designs clearly comes from the time he spends capturing the beauty of the coastal marshes and seascapes. As you find at  Cape Shore Gardens Nursery & Landscape Company this is what happens when "a fine artist is also an innovative landscape designer and builder." Come see Stan's work at the gallery and you will get the full picture of this talented guy.

Digital Collages by Sarah Bush

Since everyone asked Sarah on First Friday how she created her digital images she sent this information for me to share.

"All these digital collage transfers on glass involve a several step process to create. I scan found objects as well as collages and drawings I've made and combine them digitally with photographs I've taken. I then manipulate them a great deal in Photoshop and print them onto a transfer film which I then transfer onto reflective glass.My goal with many of these small works is to take images of everyday objects and transform them into icon-like images that glow."

The images Sarah creates absolutely glow and have a hologram appearance. Check http://sarahbushartworks.com to see more of her work. Also challenge your own creativity at her other website devoted to bringing out hidden talent - http://makegoodstuff.com. Better yet - come see her work at the gallery. It will be here until November 1.

Tidbits about our artists

I am always pleased to have our artists' talents recognized but I have to say the most recent honor extended to Kirk McBride and Lynne Lockhart is one of the best. During the summer they were invited to paint in the Laguna Beach Plein Air Painting Invitational. This is a BIG deal! Laguna Beach, CA is the center of the plein universe and this event is THE most prestigious plein air event in the country. Artists cannot apply for this event - they must be invited. There are 50 artists - almost all from CA. Lynne decided not to participate in the actual event - I don't blame her for not enjoying pressure painting! But Kirk will be painting his heart out along the beaches, canyons and streets of Laguna Beach. From what I can tell there are only 2 East Coast artists painting. I hope they send some pictures to post. Laguna Beach Plein Air Invitational

Tidbits about our artists

I want people to know more about our artists so each week I am going to share some tidbit about those who show with us. This week it is Denise Dumont's turn - she is part of our fabulous 2-gal show this month (Eva Carson is the other gal.) When Denise attended the Parsons School of Design her career intent was to be an illustrator. As a full-time artist that intent now plays out in sketches she does for her paintings. I remember the first time I saw her sketch was during Paint Snow Hill 2005. She did this fabulous little sketch of a streetscape. The end result of that little sketch was a lovely plein air painting. The secret to her sketches and her paintings seems to be her ability to perfectly compose what she sees then adding the right light and atmosphere. Take Dune Peak - don't you feel the early morning breeze and the warmth of the sand and know the ocean is just over the peak.

Great Art & Renewed Friendships

Last night we had the opening reception for Sarah Bellavance Rasich - using Sarah's Maiden name in our publicity let's people know she is the daughter of Liz and Thom - her dad was the president of Salisbury U. Sarah now lives with her family in Richmond. If you have a chance to see Sarah's contemporary watercolors you will find them soothing and reflective. It was a great turnout thanks to Liz providing many contacts from the university community. It was a great surprise to see Nancy and Enzo DeMasi with Walter and Karen Lischick. The DeMasi's have moved back to Salisbury - Chicago was just too cold! Enzo is an abstract painter so we talked about showing his work in the future. It was a week for catching up with friends - several who were making their first visit to the gallery. No better way to spread the word about the gallery and our artists.

Come Bless the Combines

Another post in less than a week! Just want to remind everyone that the 11th Annual Blessing of the Combines happens this Saturday on Green St. Snow Hill will be abuzz with the parade, all kinds of vendors, a car show, kids games and activities. Any kind of food you want will be available either from our 3 downtown restaurants, the Legion or vendors - our favorite food vendor is Tommy Mason and his barbecue. If you need to cool off, Bishop's Stock is a great place to do this - plus you can see the Charm of Chickens and our recycled farm equipment sculptures - plus a few combine paintings. The Gatski sculpture ( like the "Case" fish shown) and combine paintings will be discounted 20%. We will even show you other work by the Gatskis and special orders will be discounted as well - just this one day only!

The Blog Returns

No excuses - blogging is not my thing but I promise to make it a priority now that my website will have a new look and a tab for my blog. Nothing like old news - year old news! Summer is flying by with the most incredible weather. Sarge - our 6 year old Golden - is now my gallery greeter. We lost our dear Summoner in June so leaving Sarge home alone just would not work. Sarge was a perfect host at our July 3 First Friday reception! That was the opening for Phyl Whiton's feature - The Charm of Chickens. The show has been well received - lots of color and energy. Check out Feeding Time. The show will be up through next weekend. Come to the Blessing of the Combines next Saturday and check out the chickens! We will be offering 20% off the recycled farm machinery sculpture we carry.