OILS, PHOTOGRAPHS AND COLLAGES TO GO ON VIEW THIS FALL
THE ART ASSOCIATION OF HARRISBURG WILL PREMIER AN EXCITING FOUR-ARTIST EXHIBITION ON FRIDAY, OCT. 21, FROM 5 TO 8 PM
A four-artist Invitational Exhibition is slated to open at the Art Association of Harrisburg with a meet-the-artist reception on Friday, October 21, from 5 to 8 PM. Featured are oil landscape painters Carol Herr of Quarryville and Martin M. Pieczonka of Phoenixville, collage artist Brooke Schmidt of Wyndmoor, and photographer Eric Olson of Harrisburg. The exhibition co-sponsors are Leesa Crnozorac and Kathy Marley Dunbar, with the reception hosted by Leisa and Steve Craver. Music at the reception will be by the Erica Everest Trio.
CAROL HERR says that “light, atmosphere and colour” are the elements that fascinate and inspire her when creating her paintings. Sunlight and shadow play a large part in her contemporary impressionist works, which feature strong brushstrokes and vivid colours. Growing up on a Lancaster County Farm, Herr started drawing and painting at a young age. She graduated with honours from the York Academy of Art in 1979, and also studied at the Art Students’ League in New York City. An art instructor and award-winning, exhibiting artist for over thirty years, Herr is Gallery Director at the Lancaster County Art Association.
ERIC OLSON, born in Denver, Colorado, in 1947, began his formal training at Pratt Institute in 1966, where he studied with top-notch artists. Olson spent the next 24 years in industry in a variety of roles, developing numerous award-winning products for big-name clients. He began working as an artist full-time in 2003, with his first solo show in Reston, VA. In 2008, Olson began evolving his photography into digital fine art, with his “Transformation” series his most recent work.His first European solo exhibition was held in Sweden in 2010, and he was awarded a “Premio di Merito” prize at the 2010 Chianciano Award for Digital Art and Photography in Italy. In his Transformation series, Olson “transforms” original photographs through a series of digital procedures that ultimately create an abstract landscape dissolved of all objective literacy.
MARTIN MICHAEL PIECZONKA feels that “painting nature affirms wholeness within me.” He goes on to say that “nature is the perfect example of the harmony and balance I need to invigorate and replenish my being.” Pieczonka has a wide teaching experience, having taught at such institutions as Chester Springs Studio, the Greater Norristown Art League, and the Delaware Art Museum. His paintings have been exhibited in Philadelphia galleries, as well as in Harrisburg at AAH and in The Art of the State at the State Museum of Pennsylvania.
BROOKE SCHMIDT works with antique books, vintage fabrics, beeswax, and found objects, incorporating sewing into her pieces as a way to continue her grandmother’s extensive knowledge of that craft. Her stitches and repetitive shapes of the small cut-out book letters unite separate objects, stippling them with the small, meditative marks of her hand. Her altered books include her own narrative prose and poetry, often gleaned from within the book’s contents. She incorporates present-day and childhood experiences, memories and travels into her themes of solitude, awkwardness, vulnerability and self-discovery. Schmidt holds her BFA from Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, in 2004, and studied at Temple University’s Rome program from 2001-2002. Schmidt’s work has been exhibited widely in the Mid-Atlantic region.
This exciting four-artist exhibition will remain on view at the AAH galleries at 21 N. Front Street in Harrisburg through November 23. Call 717-236-1432 for more information, or visit www.artassocofhbg.com.