Annual Memorial Day Weekend Open House

 

A new print by Jessie Edwards, works by Tom Martinelli and Jim Gwiazdzinski — two artists new to the gallery and new work by Whitney Knapp Bowditch and other regular gallery artists opens the 22nd season of the Jessie Edwards Studio over the Memorial Day weekend. The gallery, on the second floor the Post Office building, will be open on May 26 and 27 from 10am-5pm. Light refreshments will be served both days.

“Dune Shadows” is Edwards latest giclee reproduction of a path through dunes bordered by weathered beach fencing and tall reeds. The path ends in a deep blue sea under a sky scattered with drifting clouds. The prints are available in two sizes: a limited edition of 300, and an unlimited 8”x 10” edition.

Tom Martinelli’s oils-on-canvas are abstract images of an ever-changing seascape. “Foggy Morning” (38”x38”) is a total immersion in mist, capturing the way in which the ephemeral boundaries of land, sea, and sky merge. Soft shades of grey and white shoreline meld into streaks of turquoise and darker grey water. Bands of white suggest the light from a sun hidden by the mist. In “Approaching Storm,” oil-on-canvas, white surf breaks onto the blue-grey shore from the dark waves roiling under a leaden sky.

The meticulous pen-and-ink drawings by Jim Gwiazdzinski are the fruits of his years as a commercial fisherman and reflect his affinity for water. His drawings are wonderful examples of the use of pointillism to create detailed renderings of fish in all their many forms and variations of fins, mouths, tentacles, suction cups, and baleful eyes.   His image of a fluke captures its flat profile, mottled scales, and spikes. The density of dots on the black sea bass helps to define the details of its mouth, folds, fins, and tail. Other images include Atlantic mackerel and swordfish, available as reproductions only. Images of bonito, fluke, black sea bass, and squid are available as both originals and reproductions.

Whitney Knapp Bowditch continues to experiment with color relationships, surface texture, and tonal contrast in her new oils. “Oxidized Swell,” an oil-on-board is a good example of her interest in surface texture, with the energetic sweeps of white creating the foaming swells of a wave rolling to shore. Similarly, the rough texture of the black and deep red rocks in the foreground of “Vail Beach Surf” plays against the action of the rolling surf in the middle and the smooth streak of blue sea and sky in the background. In addition to the works by over 24 artists, there is new pottery and jewelry and other decorative items. Shows for the summer season will feature new work by Heidi Palmer, Whitney Knapp Bowditch, William Hall, Kate Knapp, and Peter Gish. For more details, visit the gallery website at www.JessieEdwardsGallery.com or follow us on Facebook or Instagram.