A new exhibit, SubjectS Matter, will be at the Bruce S. Kershner Gallery in the Fairfield Library, 1080 Old Post Road during library hours from July 18 to September 5. A reception will be held on Saturday, July 24 from 5 to 7 pm, with a talk by the artists at 6.
The exhibit will feature the work of four artists, Jenna Anderson, Jean Bowler, Robert Condon, and Barbara Mathis. On Wednesday, August 4 at 7 pm, Condon and Mathis will conduct a Walk and Talk.
Jenna Anderson is a self taught artist. Her work has been used in multiple calendars and some has been auctioned off to raise money for breast cancer research/treatments.
Jenna's main inspiration to start painting was an unusual stain on a coffee table. It seemed she was the only one able to see the images in the stain, so Jenna began to sketch them. Before she knew it the whole table had been taken over! Jenna moved on to painting on canvas. She applies streaks or blots the paint on the canvas and studies it until she is able to see an image (like looking up at the clouds). Fear, sorrow or love play a part in her work, but most of it revolves around her rough childhood and family members becoming ill from cancer.
Jean Bowler has painted landscapes, seascapes and architecture around California, the East Coast and Europe. Her watercolor and acrylic paintings are frequently executed en plein air where she interprets the scene spontaneously, dramatically, and passionately to preserve the atmosphere of the day. She also does architectural renderings on commission. Her work has appeared in hundreds of shows and many publications, and several hundred of her paintings are in private collections.
She is a member of The Salmagundi Art Club of New York, Fairfield Arts Council, Fairfield County Arts Association, and Westport Arts Center. She has a B.S. Degree from University of California, Berkeley and has attended California College of the Arts, Berkeley and San Francisco Academy of Art University.
Robert Condon has over thirty years of success working for such design notables as Milton Glaser, Sussman/Prejza & Company, David Scott Parker, Michael Simon, Eric Cohler. He received training at Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts, Cooper Union & FIT, with an emphasis on landscape painting. He has been influenced by Corot, Hopper, Diebenkorn and Guston.
He says, "when studying painting, one is taught color theory but a painter works with paint pigments. Some pigments are workhorses such as cobalt blue, yellow ochre and burnt sienna. Other paint pigments were developed for replicating specific colors of flowers and are rarely used. In the landscapes shown I have only used the workhorse pigments, cobalt blue, yellow ochre and burnt sienna. This gives the paintings unity that is very satisfying and harmonious."
Barbara Mathis is a graduate of The High School of Art & Design and she has a Teaching and Fine Arts degree from Hunter College. She also studied at the Art Students League, The School of Visual Arts and at Silvermine Arts Guild.
Her figurative works are in many private collections and have been exhibited in NYC, New Jersey and Connecticut. She is a member of The Westport Arts Guild, The Greenwich Arts Society, and is a substitute teacher in the Greenwich school system.
Barbara says, "Meeting people and watching people has always been an interest of mine. Painting them is a love. I find that a figure can be a source of great beauty and always a new challenge for me to paint. Whether it is a hand, a foot, a lock of hair, or someone’s face, I try to incorporate a sense of the person through color and form. I like to draw my viewers into my work and always try to capture the human appeal."
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