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Open! Wednesday – Sunday 10:00-5:00
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.
Small Gallery
June 2, 2023 - June 27, 2023
Artist reception will be held June 2nd, 6:00-8:00. The public is welcome!
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Mostly MushroomsI love to paint just about anything and after many hikes I decided to direct my attention to the variety of mushrooms along my treks. The more I studied and tried to identify each fungi the more humbled I became with every detail I painted. |
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About the Artist
Born in Buffalo Leslie chose NYC’s Fashion Institute of Technology to study illustration for her BFA. After studying abroad and apprenticing in Italy Leslie began a 23year career in romance novel cover illustration and portraiture. She then met her husband and moved upstate, started a family and happily shifted her art towards farm animals and still life’s. Each year Leslie likes to do a small collection of something out of her usual subjects to help stay fresh and challenged. Last year was birds. This year it’s mushrooms.
Featured Artist
Featured artist: Jean Clark
Jean Clark’s environmental portraits of animals are engagingly intuitive. A goat munching dandelions peers placidly at the viewer in a colorful monoprint, while in another, a great ape savors a ripe banana. The coy gaze of a hippo by a riverbank seems nearly human, while a squirrel ‘s delight at a trove of acorns is almost palpable.
Then there is the small black dog with foxy ears, a frequent figure in Clark’s work. Whether shown exploring the wider world or homeward bound, Clark’s depiction of the little canine nails the specie’s characteristic curiosity—and loyalty. “We’ve always had dogs,” she explains their lure as subject matter. “I simply observe them at home.” In fact, her 12-year-old rescued black Labrador retriever, Tucker, is her occasional muse.
Viewers have often remarked on the whimsy and sense of wonder in Clark’s work. Joy is implicit.
Another frequent subject in Clark’s art is houses. In bright, warm colors, she captures their allure as a place of respite, of home. In “Reflections,” she shows how their images ripple into the peaceful void of a lake. “Houses are my portraiture,” Clark explains.
Another favorite subject is weather’s many moods, as in the monoprint “Stormy,” which captures the swirling drama of thunderstorm clouds.
Clark grew up in the suburbs of Westchester NY, one of eight girls and five boys. She recalls “being serious about art” from an early age. There in the Greater New York area, she remembers that “my inspiration was graffiti. I lived on a small island in the Bronx and loved the daily commute into the city, with pop art by Keith Haring all over the sidewalks and on the subway walls. It got me excited about fine art and the Neo-Expressionism movement that was emerging in the late 1970s and into the ‘80s.”
In high school, she studied commercial art and a teacher’s mentoring led her to get a scholarship right after graduation to the Art Students League. Subsequently she enjoyed a career designing stained glass reproductions for museum gift shops and the gift trade.
After years of downstate life, she and her husband relocated about thirty years ago to the outskirts of Greenwich, NY, where she finds the rural lifestyle congenial to her creativity. Long a perennial gardener, she’s nurtured Lenten roses (Hellebores), yellow irises, and the tree -climbing hydrangea. Perhaps not surprisingly, flowers occasionally show up in her art, such as a lush bouquet of blush roses in a blue checked vase.
Clark’s work has been exhibited in many local venues, among them the Saratoga Arts Center, the Troy Arts Center, Lake George Arts Project and the Agricultural Stewardship Association’s “Landscapes for Landsake” show. An important influence has been taking printmaking classes with Sunghee Park, an instructor at the Troy Arts Center. “She was so inspirational,” Clark says. “Having such a wonderful teacher just drew me to printmaking. I found that it’s an exciting process with a whole series of steps involved that I immediately took to. I really do enjoy the whole process of printmaking, step by step.”
Upcoming Shows
- Hallie Boyce – Farmscape. Oil on Canvas
June 30, 2023 - July 25, 2023
- Lise Winne and Marina Petro – Visits From the Muse
July 28, 2023 - August 22, 2023
- Summer Sale
August 19, 2023 - August 20, 2023
- Christine Levy – Fractals… and other pleasing patterns.
August 25, 2023 - September 19, 2023
See past shows →
News
Remembering Joyce Decker
We just found out that one of our founding members of VAM passed away in 2021. We are sad for the news. Joyce Center Decker (B) 8/22/1924 (D) 9/8/2021 She didn't beat Grandma Moses (whom she met) in longevity but at 97 she survived most. Joyce was a fierce individual,...
Small Works Show Winners!
The Valley Artisans Market SMALL WORKS SHOW WINNERS ANNOUNCED Thanks for casting your vote during our Small Works show! Here are the winners! Best in Show: Maude White won first place for “Bluebird” (cut paper) Honorable Mention: Isaac Semko for “Woman in the Woods”...