Located in historic Hubbard Hall in Cambridge, NY, and amidst the rolling hills of Washington County in upstate New York, Valley Artisans Market is one of the oldest arts cooperatives in the country. Local fine artists and craftsmen work in a variety of hand-crafted media including glass, paper, cloth, photography, oil paintings, pastels, wood, mosaic, sculpture, metal, jewelry, ceramics and more. The Small Gallery features rotating shows by members and guest artists, and the market is always staffed by one of its artisan members.
Currently at the market…
Small Gallery
February 20, 2020 - March 18, 2020
Artist Reception will be held on Saturday, February 22nd, 3-5pm.
Artist will give an informal talk about his work at 4pm
The public is welcome!
Since I retired from teaching art in the Queensbury school system (35-½ years) in 2001 I have been creating paintings at the rate of one per month and a half, with time off for those busy times like November and December. Some years have been more productive and some years have been less productive. One thing is clear, though, I am still painting after 18 years.
I have worked my way through many different areas of subject matter.
Lately I have been involved in creating images of different foods. The food paintings started out as a joke and then grew into focused still lifes. That is, the food has been taken out of the still life and been given star billing. I have also been creating small collages of tinfoil that I then turn into larger paintings. They are realistic but look abstract. I thought I would like to focus on those two subjects for this show and then throw in a few off-topic paintings that are recent but don’t fit any category similar to the others. That’s why I call this show “Food and Foil Paintings, et.al.”
For more information on Paul, visit his website at http://paulmchapmanart.com/bio-res-page.html
Paul Chapman The Big One is Mine
Paul Chapman 12 Whole Grains
Paul Chapman Congeal
Paul Chapman The Nature of Light–Blue Ice
Paul Chapman The Nature of Light–Fire and Ice
Featured Artist
Carol Law Conklin
Member Carol Law Conklin, of Amity Farm Batik, writes about making batik using bleach while enjoying the summer weather:
Losing the color
It was a beautiful summer morning. Hazy and not too hot. The gentle breeze felt good as I stood at the top of the hill behind our house. Mist slowly rose and changed the soft colors of the expansive view. The mountains, arranged in subtle layers of blues, greens and purple formed the backdrop as birds and insects fill the air with their music. There is so much life this time of year. Back at home, I’m contemplating the colors I want in several batik that have already gone through many dyebaths. As the dyes are translucent, there are limits to overlays of opposite colors. In order to achieve what I want it will be necessary to bleach out some areas before the desired color can be added.
The summer weather is the best for doing discharge dyeing (bleaching). This process is something not to be done inside. The bleach, which removes the color wherever the wax has not been applied to save the design, has quite strong fumes. To stop the bleaching action, I plunge the fabric into a solution of water and vinegar, gently agitated and left there for approximately 15 minutes. This produces more toxic fumes. The commercial product, “Bleach Stop” (sodium thiosulfate crystals), is even more effective, but I believe have stronger fumes. A respirator mask is recommended when working around toxic fumes and good ventilation is essential.
Different dyes and intensities of dye bleach in a variety of unpredictable ways. When using strong solutions for bleaching deep colors be extra careful. Acid and chlorine combined can kill! Monitor and stir the fabric as it bleaches. Various fabrics and dyelots take different times. Blue seems to bleach out overly quickly and thoroughly. Some colors change to a new color and not beige or white. Silk can stand only very weak bleaching without causing the fabric to deteriorate. Vinegar has an additional bleaching action and results are unpredictable as well as fascinating.
The photos show a batik in the bleaching tub, after bleaching and finally you can see my “Appaloosa Horse in Flower Field” at the top of the page after the re-dyeing and with the wax ironed out, bright and expressing the summer season.
Find more batik, articles and tutorials on Carol’s website: www.amityfarmbatik.com
Appaloosa-in-Flower-Field-610×815
Appaloosa-bleached-610×458
Appaloosa-in-bucket-610×458
Upcoming Shows
- Paul Chapman – Food and Foil Paintings, et al.
February 20, 2020 10:00 am - March 18, 2020 5:00 pm
- Elizabeth Phillips
March 20, 2020 10:00 am - April 14, 2020 5:00 pm
- Lynne Kerr – Photography
April 17, 2020 10:00 am - May 12, 2020 5:00 pm
- Cheryl Gutmaker & Kathy Klompas – Mixed Media
May 15, 2020 10:00 am - June 9, 2020 5:00 pm
- Kevin Kuhme – Water Color
June 12, 2020 10:00 am - July 7, 2020 5:00 pm
- Chalice Mitchell
July 10, 2020 10:00 am - August 4, 2020 5:00 pm
- Laura Leigh Lanchantin
August 7, 2020 10:00 am - September 1, 2020 5:00 pm
- Anne Dambrowski and Sandy Brett
September 4, 2020 10:00 am - September 29, 2020 5:00 pm
- Julie Branch
October 2, 2020 10:00 am - October 27, 2020 5:00 pm
- Ian Creitz – Photography
October 30, 2020 10:00 am - November 21, 2020 4:00 pm
- Annual Holiday Show
November 27, 2020 - December 31, 2020
See past shows →
News
Spring hours
Valley Artisans Market is open for its spring hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am-5 pm. Come check us out!
Open seven days a week!
Valley Artisans Market is open seven day a week through New Year's. Come in and see our Christmas tree decorated with ornaments as well as all our lovely handmade work that makes great gifts for family, teachers, hostesses, secret Santa exchanges, Yankee swap parties...
