"Above and Beyond"
the art of
Bill Jersey
and
Maxine Shore
September 6 - 30, 2018
Opening Reception: Saturday, September 8, 5-8 pm
Fine artists Maxine Shore and Bill Jersey will exhibit oil paintings
expressing their personal visions of landscape that go above and beyond
the natural world.
Maxine Shore is an award-winning artist who has exhibited her
work throughout the USA and is included in many private, public and
corporate collections. She is a contemporary colorist who uses color and
light in an effort to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.
Inspiration for her paintings often comes from travel to places near and
far that spark her imagination. Working exclusively in oils, she relies
on watercolor or pencil sketches as well as her camera to record images
that she works on in her studio. Such was the case with the painting,
Cinque Terre, which depicted a town in Italy she visited recently. A
photograph of the painting was featured in the New York Times.
Shore is more interested in interpreting how a place makes her feel
than simply reproducing how it looks. "In my art nature provides a
springboard for the color and light I envision in my imagination.
Reflections of light on water, the way a breeze animates a scene, the
filtering of light through leaves - these natural phenomena illustrate
what I enjoy exploring in my paintings. Painting has given me tremendous
pleasure and I am delighted that my work conveys that spirit of joy to
others."
Bill Jersey's route to success as a painter was very different
than for most artists. As a child, art became his escape from the
constraints of a fundamentalist upbringing. A short stint in the US Navy
gave Bill a chance to attend a Christian college as an art major. But
in a strange twist of fate the religious film company that hired him was
contracted to make its first commercial feature. It became the iconic
horror film, "The Blob" on which Jersey was the Art Director.
But documentaries, not features, became Jersey's career. For 60 years he
produced award winning films for networks and PBS, but art was always
his passion. When Bill and his wife moved to Lambertville in 2008, art
became his primary focus. In painting - as with film - Jersey seeks to
go beyond mere observation, working to express with color and form the
unique qualities of an historic barn or clouds or the spirit of a night
sky, all from the view of a fresh eye.
And don't forget - along with our featured exhibit,
all 16 of our professional artists continuously have their work on exhibit.
We look forward to your next visit to Artists' Gallery,
where there's always something new to see.
