Two Artistic Passions Come Together

Skaneateles artist and co-owner of Skaneateles Artisans brought her two artistic talents together for a display at The Everson Museum in Syracuse, New York. Grethen Hamlin is a glass artist who makes jewelry out of glass tubes and bowls of fused glass. She has just added a line of large bowls that can be custom ordered and cut to be used as a sink in a bathroom. For the Everson fund raiser, this past weekend, Gretchen brought together her love of flowers and gardening with her glass art by designing a floral arrangement of glass and natural flowers. More of Gretchen's work can be seen at Skaneateles Artisans.

Signature Member - CNY Watercolor Society

Congratulations to Ed Levine for being accepted as a Signature Member of the Central New York Watercolor Society. His subject matter is broad including still life and florals. He paints scenes, in all seasons, of the local area, including Skaneateles Lake. Ed is an owner of Skaneateles Artisans, where is work is shown and sold.

Painting a Drop Leaf Table

As an artist who owns and sells at Skaneateles Artisans I find it necessary sometimes to paint items that are small and easily affordable. I said previous posts that I like to make original art, on functional pieces as small as a coffee cup coaster. However, big pieces percolate in my head and often take many months, to a year, to come to fruition. A member once brought in an antique Stevens Decoy that was valued at $4000. That became the impetus to create a still life around the decoy. I visited antique shops looking for period pieces that can be put into the decoy still life. I laid out lots of "set ups" and took multiple photographs. Staying with the functional piece of my painting philosophy I decided to paint this still life on the insert to a drop leaf "card table" that I had built for me by a cabinet maker. Finally last night after months of starts and stutters I brought the painting to fruition. It was a study of textures. The biggest challenge was how to add a plaid hunting shirt and then paint it. Flannel plaid presented a difficult challenge with the folds and multiple weaves in the fabric. Hopefully in looking at the painting one "feels" the duck hunter in the period of the "Stevens Decoy" who has just come in or is going out, with his dog, on an early morning to hunt. Only the insert is done and is pictured here sitting on my easel. But that was the hard part. I have painted the frame of the table (that holds the insert) as "faux" leather. Layers of varnish and rubbing come next but by summer I hope to have it in the shop to entice someone to purchase it for their camp, family room or library.

Short video of a view of our display

Here's a short video clip of the view of our display at the CNY Blooms Show, looking "in" from the outside.

Come visit us at CNY Blooms!

Steven Fland carving wood.

Lauren Ritchie sketching designs onto a leather hard pottery lantern form.

Before and after...

Enamel and fine silver jewelry by Donna Smith

Glass hanging lantern by Gretchen Hamlin

Dried flower arrangements by Susan Poppenger

Contemporary art quilts, handbags and scarves by Holly Knott

Stained glass by Liz and Rich Micho and pottery by Jim Burke

Skaneateles Artisans will be at the OnCenter in Syracuse during the CNY Blooms flower show, now through March 8. 17 of our artisans will be displaying (and selling) their artwork. Come stop in and see some artist demos as well, while enjoying the lovely gardens, refreshments and vendors. At all times you'll find several of us artists available to answer your questions. On Friday evening, Louis Nocilly's "Jazzitude" will be livening things up with music during our First Friday celebration. Pictured above are just a few photos of what you'll find at the show.

Harmony

Charlie is my son's Corgi/Beagle mix rescued from abuse about two years ago. While still timid, Charlie has formed an inseparable bond with Jon, my son. I took this picture while they were going to the beach at the Outer Banks. I was fascinated by the synchronization of their step(feet) as they walked up the stairs over the dune line. A 16 by 20 inch canvas, I call the picture Harmony. Its yet to be framed as it is very hard to call an oil painting finished. There is a fine line between overworking and putting just the right finishing touches on a painting. I will let it sit for a few weeks before I complete it.

Hand painted coasters

Want a reasonably priced piece of art to enjoy with your coffee? Consider one of my hand painted coasters. Each coaster is a 4" by 4" tile with an original painting (no photos or reprints) and a cork backing. Find them at our shop, Skaneateles Artisans. While you are at it pick up a mug made by one of our talented potters to go with the coaster. Let art greet you each time you have a cup of coffee. Makes a great gift as well.

Battle of the Jewelry Models

These are my two models. You must make a decision about which model shows off my jewelry the best. Each model is wearing three identical necklaces I made composed of various gemstones. After you have decided, please send in your comment. The winner gets all three of my necklaces below as her prize. May the best model win!

My first model is the lovely, Rosalita, patient and always smiling. She adores rings but, alas, has no fingers. She is considering getting her ears pierced. Since she is so young to make such an important decision, we will have to discuss this first. Her other interests, aside from jewelry, are surfing and baseball.


Frankie is my second model. She is an older woman, not quite as well bred as Rosalita but certainly a beauty in her own right. I found her on the streets, took pity on her and gave her a home. Little did I know that her passion is jewelry. Not only does she like to wear it but she also likes to eat it. She has devoured several chunks of amethyst. Because of her propensity for stealing gemstones, she has done time in prison. Since her release she has been fully rehabilitated and admits that she made many mistakes in her past. She no longer steals gemstones. Instead, she has learned how to dig for turquoise in mines in New Mexico and Arizona, much like pigs foraging for truffles. She has become quite a celebrity.

The lucky winner will receive the moonstone, brass and bone necklace; the five strand hessonite, coin citrine and free form citrine necklace; and finally, the two strand calcite and amethyst necklace.

Just finished - pet portrait

Yesterday I put the final strokes of paint on a English Cocker Spaniel that I was painting for a member of the shop. Now I wait for it to dry before I send it off to the framer, another member of our co-op. While, as a decorative and functional artist I paint on unusual pieces, my first love is oil painting, especially portraiture. When painting a portrait I believe it should tell a story and emotionally draw the viewer in. Head shots are easy to paint but are static. An example of this is a portrait commission that I did for a Father's Day gift. I paint from photographs so when I posed this subject I told the teen that the picture should represent her at 16 and when her father is old this picture should tell the story of her at 16. The first request was that she have a cell phone in her hand. She loved playing lacrosse and her dad coached her in recreational basketball so she wanted those items in the portrait. She picked her favorite clothes. Painting a 16 year old is sometimes a challenge: "Make me thinner". Her seven year old brother was a piece of cake. He ran to his closet and picked out his favorite shirt and baseball bat. His dad often played catch with him and he wanted to be represented as a seven year old who loved baseball. Needless to say this family was a sports oriented family. Below are the pictures I completed and were presented to "Dad" as a surprise Father's Day gift. It was a fun commission.

The Power of Blogging For Artists

Vineyard on a Finger Lake

Available at Skaneateles Artisans or directly from me

I am continually amazed at the wonders that the Internet often brings - how it can connect long-lost relatives or friends, how you can form friendships with people thousands of miles away, people whom you'd never "meet" otherwise, how you can connect with other like-minded artist types from all over, share technical and marketing information, and how it can even bring in sales. I'm one of the artists here at Skaneateles Artisans, and first, welcome to our new blog! I also have my own personal blog, where I post about my artwork, hobbies and life. Because our blogs can be made searchable by the search engines, the owner of the Finger Lakes Weekend Wino blog (love that name!) discovered my blog the other day and sent me an email letting me know that he liked some of my new fiber art framed landscapes that I posted about (one is pictured above), and he was even kind enough to post about them on his own blog.

I encourage you as individual artists to start your own blog, and do link to other artists and galleries that you want to support. It's really very easy, and a blog has become a way to let your customers learn more about you and your work. It's a little difficult to continually update a website, especially if you're an artist who doesn't have the technical skills to do so. Many artists hire designers to maintain their sites (that's the other hat that I wear) and don't want to pay for frequent updates. To me, websites are still valuable but are becoming more of a static online portfolio of an artist's work that you might update every few weeks or months, but your blog is where all the action is. It's easy to post works-in-progress, ask for feedback or help of other artists, etc. Some artists choose to keep their blog strictly art-related. Others do mix a little friend-and-family-life stuff in. Posting a lot of photos keeps a blog interesting and makes it easy to skim for those readers looking for certain information.

We at Skaneateles Artisans are hoping that our blog will become known by other artists and our customers, as well as visitors who may be investigating Skaneateles as a potential place to visit; a place for you to come and check out new posts to see what our artists have been up to, what new exhibits we'll be hosting, what new work people have brought to the gallery. We may even post videos of artist demonstrating their work in the future. Please check here often and feel free to link to us!

What is an Art Co-Op and what is special about our Co-Op?

Skaneateles Artisans is an artist owned Co-operative Gallery in Skaneateles, New York. As an owner from its inception just two years ago, I can give a little history and current status. About two years ago over 50 artists from all mediums and backgrounds met to consider opening a gallery/art co-op in the resort town of Skaneateles in the scenic Finger Lakes of New York State. Skaneateles rates a four star review in Fromm’s Travel Guide. Skaneateles is also the home office and research center for Welch Allyn, a large developer and maker of optic equipment and many commonly used medical devices. Thirty four came together and opened the Gallery with hard work painting and preparing a beautiful Gallery to open in May. We each own and work the business. As owners we control our own art and make business decisions as a group. We decided to call ourselves Artisans because all of the artists involved art true artists who work on traditional to unique “canvases” or use unique media to produce their art. All of the artists live locally and are juried in to become members. All work is original design. At Skaneateles Artisans one can see traditional two dimensional arts done in oil, water color and acrylics. However, the visitor can also feast their eyes on blown glass, pottery, enamel work, sculpture, fiber and even dried floral works of art. Our floral artist grows her own flowers, dries and arranges all pieces. I am a decorative/functional artist as well as a portrait artist. Skaneateles has had almost two very successful years, having survived business growing pains while learning to work cooperatively. Every owner artist has found support and has grown professionally. Come to the beautiful Finger Lakes of New York to see this large and beautiful Gallery at 11 Fennell Street. You will not be disappointed.

New Item at Skan Artisans

As a functional artist I am always looking for a way to provide original art for people when using a functional piece. With this philosophy in mind one can find my artistic "paintings" on bowls, furniture and even an old Flyer sled. My latest "canvas" is a bisque tile or a ceramic tile that can be used as a coaster or trivet. Come to Skaneateles Artisans to see my new coasters with original hand painted designs. Every tile is an original and will not ever be duplicated. It will be a one of a kind piece of art. Treat yourself to a hand painted tile coaster and a beautiful mug made by one of our talented and creative potters.