Out of the Box Art Exhibition and Sale
In its first year, the Out of the Box Art Exhibition & Sale is an invitational event. This exhibit is designed for artists to showcase their process as well as their completed works of art and interact with visitors to Plein Air-Easton! The exhibition will highlight artists whose work falls outside the constraints of the traditional Plein Air painting. The exhibition will be held outdoors by Harrison Street, in Easton, Maryland, on Saturday, July 20 & Sunday, July 21, 2013.
Artists considered by the Out of the Box Art Exhibition & Sale Invitations Committee, met the following criteria:
• Recognized regionally/nationally as an artist
• Participated in other arts events or exhibitions within the last two years
• Are able and willing to demo at least part of their artistic process throughout the event
• Have a body of work to sell
• Are eager to talk about their process and share it with others
2013's Out of the Box artists are:
Darrick Rosenberry, blacksmith -
Darrick Rosenberry grew up in Centreville and the surrounding area, graduating from Queen Annes in '95. He has always had a love for crafts in general but metals in particular. The story he loves to tell when he became interested in metal was when he was about 8 he watched an episode of the Woodwright's Shop on MPT. In that episode they featured a blacksmith banging away at a piece of steel making a chisel or such. Darrick was hooked. All through his life he then read books and watched shows about metal work. Rosenberry then pursued the craft through college. He came into copper work almost by accident. Using some copper left over from a job he had done he began shaping it and it moved exactly how he wanted. Previously working with steel, which had to be formed under high heat, he had found it did not move and stretch the way he had envisioned. With copper it moves where he wants and forms in the way he had been looking for. Darrick decided to form flowers as he liked capturing the natural form in a permanent medium, and especially with copper as it will change over time. Rosenberry is starting to move into more topics, birds and other animals, plus more free form but not too abstract...
Nick Tindall, stencil and spray paint paintings -
Nicholas Tindall's studio is in Trappe, Maryland on an old dairy and grain farm dating back to the 1700's. His actual work space resides where the milking stalls once were. "Since it's no longer a working farm by traditional standards," joking that there is still plenty to take care of (including an orchard and small vineyard), "my grandparents decided to turn the building into something useful -- namely, a workshop where my grandfather could work on his clock and gun collection."
Although there are no moving pieces involved with the canvases Tindall creates, he surely has inherited the attention for detail and meticulous hand-eye coordination within the family. He is grateful for this "inner knowledge" and also his Grandmother allowing him to utilize the space now that his Grandfather has passed. "I still feel his presence looming over me when I'm there. He was a busy man so I feel a push or urgency to get things done."
Describing his art and its direction, Tindall intends to create pieces that are timeless, but also utilize color and composition befitting the 21st century contemporary movement. An air of excitement -- and sometimes movement -- stirs within the (very large) dimensions of many of his pieces, causing the observer to examine and wonder. "The objects in the foreground are popping out while the background is shifting... morphing." He hopes that while the subjects are familiar and approachable, that people will delve into the abstractions and see other things, "like animals in the clouds", Tindall says.
In 2012, he embarked on the "art voyage" and had never previously completed an oil-on-canvas. In fact, he had done nothing artistic for the past 10 years, "not since high school," he says. A self-taught painter, he enjoys building, stretching, and priming the canvases himself so that each piece is "unique and exactly the way I want it." He also likes to make them BIG -- at least several feet wide, with some over 5 ft. tall -- because, "it is amazing what things look like from a bug's perspective."
His work has been on display in Easton at The Witte Gallery, Bountiful, and The Cottage Studio & Gallery. His work has also been featured in St. Michael's at the Eastern Shore Brewing Co. For more information, please visit http://NicholasTindall.com.
Erin Fluharty, photography on copper, steel, and wood -
Erin Fluharty, of Tilghman Island uses her heritage as a large part of her photography. Ever since she was a young child, she has always had a camera in her hands, photographing family, friends and local scenery as her passion developed. In high school, with help of teacher, Heather Crow, Erin began her photography career with an internship at the Star Democrat. After graduating high school, Erin was then hired as a photojournalist. During her time at the Star Democrat, Erin went to Salisbury University to further her passion in photography. It wasn't until she met Carl Goldhagen, an art professor, where she learned alternative methods in photography. Since working with Goldhagen, Erin has been developing photographs on copper, steel, and wood. "There is a precise method in which photographs are developed on these materials. If one part of the process is not right, none of it is right," said Fluharty. After five years of practicing this method, Fluharty is searching new material to experiment on as well as further her work on copper.
Liz Zerai, paper mache sculpture -
Liz Zerai is an unabashed hoarder . . . and papier-mâché artist. Her housekeeping downfall is her artistic forte -- seeing creative possibilities in the detritus of everyday life. Cats in plastic syrup bottles. Dragons in egg cartons. Turtles in piecrust tins. Papier-mâché combines her love of art (and animals, her primary subjects) with her passion for recycling in what she likes to call "creative encapsulation." Sometimes her sculptures take shape organically, growing out of whatever materials lie at hand. Sometimes she envisions a subject and rummages through her bins until she finds the right object, or combination of objects, upon which to build. Always she tries to capture a moment of movement or expression. Liz lives in Easton, Maryland. She exhibits her work yearly at Gallery at First UU (the longest-running juried art show in Richmond, Virginia) and was asked by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts to sell her pieces in their gift shop. Her commissioned creatures live in homes up and down the eastern seaboard.
Elizabeth Carr, paper and wool felting collage -
Elizabeth Carr is a landscape artist, designer and illustrator in Milwaukee, WI. Elizabeth often works en plein air in non-traditional mediums including paper collage and wool felt. She recently returned from two Artist in Residency programs in Eastern Europe in which she was working on a project called "Unfamiliar Landscapes" - examining the landscapes of Budapest and Belgrade en plein air and in studio to better understand the cultures and people within these landscapes. Elizabeth also did outdoor demonstrations of her collage and wool felt techniques while on these residency programs. She teaches at a local art museum and directs a non-profit arts administration organization.
Dawn Malosh, clay sculpture -
Sherwood, Maryland artist Dawn Malosh developed her first gargoyle bell upon hand-crafting a simple pinch pot over 11 years ago. While making a pot, she saw an open-mouthed face in the clay’s subtle bumps and textures. She then began developing the face as she envisioned it. Soon Dawn realized that the unusual creature she was creating was a gargoyle, but felt that her gargoyle was missing something, so she continued working on the design. She soon developed a way for her open-mouthed creature to have a wagging tongue so he could ring like a bell. Thus began the invention of Malosh’s unique art form, gargoyle bells.
After the first gargoyle was created, Dawn began researching the history of gargoyles and bells to try to understand why she was creating this strange yet fascinating art form. After pouring through many books and search engines, Dawn soon learned that gargoyles throughout history have been considered powerful protective guards against evil, negativity and bad energy. During Medieval times, gargoyles were placed on cathedrals and castles throughout Europe in order to ward off evil spirits. She also learned through her research that cultures throughout the world have used bell ringing as a way of cleansing spaces from evil and negativity for centuries. These ideas appealed to the artist, so Malosh began creating her one-of-a-kind bells as a decorative ringing art form that may also serve as a type of protector that clears negativity from the home or space where it hangs. Malosh has no claims that her gargoyle bells have supernatural powers of course, but she does have many interesting stories that her collectors have shared with her, along with a few of her own.
Since September of 2001, Dawn has created thousands of these eclectic, grimacing, goofy and sometimes grotesque faced bells. Collected and displayed all over the world, these unique sentinels are often hung near the doors, thresholds and windows of homes, in gardens, places of business and even in the rear-view mirrors of automobiles. “Some collectors are very serious about using my gargoyle bells as a form of protection in and around their homes, cars and other spaces, while others enjoy them as a whimsical decoration or a unique gift for someone special,” states Malosh. “I have one serious collector in Nevada who has around forty gargoyle bells hanging in every window of his kitchen. I have another collector in LA who recently purchased my latest batch of bells, thirty total, because she has been struggling with an illness. She plans to surround her home with them and give some to family. “
J.H. Shires, charcoal sketching -
Jeremy Shires is an artist based in the New York City area. Over the past 3 years he has participated in several regional plein air festivals each year, in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Shires has won awards at several of these events. He shows his work regionally, and in Texas and California. Jeremy is planning to do large scale charcoal sketches at Plein Air-Easton! and for Out of the Box.
Jen Wagner, mosaics -
Jen Wagner Mosaics is owned and operated by artist Jen Wagner. Large – scale community murals, private commissions, and gallery work are her focus, as well as the bi-weekly classes she teaches from The Academy Arts Museum in Easton, Md. In 2008, she received the City Beautification Award from Cambridge, Maryland mayor Victoria Jackson – Stanley for a 60ft. community mosaic mural in the downtown. What’s Up? Eastern Shore named her one of the Top 12 People to Watch for 2009. In 2011, Maryland Life Magazine readers voted her as Best Artist of the Upper Shore in the Free State’s Finest Reader’s Poll. Her Gallery 26 in Easton Maryland won Most Unique Gifts in What’s Up? Eastern Shore’s 2010 Best Of reader’s poll.
Jen Wagner’s mosaics can be found in private residences, community organizations, schools, restaurants and salons. Some of her most notable installations are the Ava’s Mural, at Ava’s restaurant in St. Michaels, Md, The Cannery Way mural, in Cambridge, Md., and the Easton Market Square Mural in Easton, Md. Her gallery work shows at The Maris Elaine Gallery in National Harbor, The Zenith Art Gallery in Washington, D.C. and The Grafton Gallery in Easton, Md. She recently completed multiple public art installations in the summer of 2012.