Pictures courtesy of
Maggie Young
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
JIM FOOTE
Jim Foote is a long time resident of Northern Vermont and calls it his home. At age 5, the spark for art was given to Jim by his grandmother who encouraged him by always hanging his pictures on her refrigerator. While almost anything could a subject for a painting, Jim considers color, sunlight, and shadows key. Flowers that he grows and cares for at home are of particular interest to him for their never-ending variety of patterns and colors.Jim has studied art through books and lots of trial and error. His desire and passion for creating are what motivates him to continue to learn new techniques. Jim's medium of choice today is acrylic painting. Working mostly from photographs, he has recently begun using Photoshop, Painter, and Cinema4D to get ideas down to help his paintings evolve. He also creates complete digital art pieces.Woodcarving is another medium which he has used, creating beautiful painted wood sculptures; however, he is not creating woodworks at this time even though the love for carving is still strong. Jim's paintings are intricately detailed and elegant, and produce an effective and lovely depiction of the Northeast woodlands and lifestyle.
REBECCA ANNE BENNETT
Rebecca Anne Bennett…was born in Morrisville, Vermont in 1954, and was raised in Wayzata, Minnesota where she attended the University of Minnesota.
As a child, Rebecca would get into trouble for drawing and painting on walls. As an adult, she has been paid and commissioned, to create and paint wall murals and faux paintings in various situations, including homes, businesses, and medical offices. She has even painted graphics on the sides of semi-trailers.
Rebecca’s painting and photography has taken her several states besides Vermont. She has created slide presentations for medical conferences, designed signs and illustrations for retail stores, photographed weddings and special events, and is now a talented and sympathetic art teacher. Her Enosburg Falls Art Studio is called The Blue Crayon and she works on a one on one basis or with small groups of adults and children.
In her personal art production, rebecca paints, draws, and sculpts people, animals, flowers, and landscapes by special order or for exhibition. Rebecca has had solo artist exhibitions as well as being featured in group shows in Vermont and Minnesota.
As a child, Rebecca would get into trouble for drawing and painting on walls. As an adult, she has been paid and commissioned, to create and paint wall murals and faux paintings in various situations, including homes, businesses, and medical offices. She has even painted graphics on the sides of semi-trailers.
Rebecca’s painting and photography has taken her several states besides Vermont. She has created slide presentations for medical conferences, designed signs and illustrations for retail stores, photographed weddings and special events, and is now a talented and sympathetic art teacher. Her Enosburg Falls Art Studio is called The Blue Crayon and she works on a one on one basis or with small groups of adults and children.
In her personal art production, rebecca paints, draws, and sculpts people, animals, flowers, and landscapes by special order or for exhibition. Rebecca has had solo artist exhibitions as well as being featured in group shows in Vermont and Minnesota.
TOBY FULWILER
Toby Fulwiler…came to turning wooden bowls from two different but complementary directions. First, for some thirty-five years, Toby has made a living as a writer and teacher of writing. He learned as a writer, and passed along to his students that attention to the process of composing made the product that much better. The process of writing something meaningful is messy, unpredictable, full of false starts and dead ends, often frustrating, and demands a great deal of patience and serious revision. Sometimes you control your idea, other times, the language controls it and pushes you to places you have never been before. At the same time, if you persevere, rough out your idea one way, then another, and trust the shape that emerges, your writing will make good sense, others will understand you, and you will feel good about your craft.
The same lessons about a messy process apply to making something useful and pleasing from wood: like the idea that triggers a piece of writing, you discover wood somewhere in the forest, chainsaw then band saw to circular form, and chisel on way, then another until the shape pleases you. As in writing sometimes you control the cutting, other times the wood—the grain, pattern, shape, knots, texture- demands a direction you never saw coming. In writing and turning both, what keeps you going are the discoveries, delights, twists and turns, and sometimes mistakes that make each finished product unique. (I was here, I made this, I’m alive, and all’s right with the world!)
The other direction that fuels this bowl-turning passion comes from where and how Toby lives on ninety acres of mixed hardwood in Fairfield, VT. Toby manages a woodlot for wildlife habitat, timber harvest, maple syrup production, and fuel wood. The forest, along with his vegetable and flowers gardens, keeps his small family in touch with life’s natural and fundamental processes. Then, last year, to Toby’s surprise and delight, his forest provided yet another precious resource: sugar maple, black cherry, white ash, paper and yellow birch, apple and elm—raw material for the creative life. if you have a working lather, sharp chisels, and a bit of imagination, the forest provides the fundamental stuff for imaginative expression. In some small but meaningful way, fashioning smooth and interesting shapes from the wood grown in good Vermont soil connects Toby to a long line of pioneers, naturalists, and artisans who lived on and learned from their native land. (Yes, I’m still here, I work the land, I’m alive, and least for now, all’s right with the world!)*All bowls displayed are finished with food-sage beeswax/mineral oil mix. Purchasers should not put bowls in water or dishwasher, and should wax or oil the bowls as needed.
The same lessons about a messy process apply to making something useful and pleasing from wood: like the idea that triggers a piece of writing, you discover wood somewhere in the forest, chainsaw then band saw to circular form, and chisel on way, then another until the shape pleases you. As in writing sometimes you control the cutting, other times the wood—the grain, pattern, shape, knots, texture- demands a direction you never saw coming. In writing and turning both, what keeps you going are the discoveries, delights, twists and turns, and sometimes mistakes that make each finished product unique. (I was here, I made this, I’m alive, and all’s right with the world!)
The other direction that fuels this bowl-turning passion comes from where and how Toby lives on ninety acres of mixed hardwood in Fairfield, VT. Toby manages a woodlot for wildlife habitat, timber harvest, maple syrup production, and fuel wood. The forest, along with his vegetable and flowers gardens, keeps his small family in touch with life’s natural and fundamental processes. Then, last year, to Toby’s surprise and delight, his forest provided yet another precious resource: sugar maple, black cherry, white ash, paper and yellow birch, apple and elm—raw material for the creative life. if you have a working lather, sharp chisels, and a bit of imagination, the forest provides the fundamental stuff for imaginative expression. In some small but meaningful way, fashioning smooth and interesting shapes from the wood grown in good Vermont soil connects Toby to a long line of pioneers, naturalists, and artisans who lived on and learned from their native land. (Yes, I’m still here, I work the land, I’m alive, and least for now, all’s right with the world!)*All bowls displayed are finished with food-sage beeswax/mineral oil mix. Purchasers should not put bowls in water or dishwasher, and should wax or oil the bowls as needed.
NATALIE BOUCHARD
Natalie LaRocque-Bouchard…works in digital photography and acrylic painting. Her photography generally does not require manipulation or color correction unless she feels that intentionally enhancing an image could create impact and emphasis. Her photographic practices also extend to collage work for advertising, marketing materials, computer graphics, vinyl banners and vehicle graphics, t-shirt and textile printing. Most of her images have been taken around Franklin County, VT.
Natalie has been painting in acrylics since 1986 when she moved to Vermont. She prefers to paint on oversized and life-size canvases as well as trompe l’oiel murals on canvas. Her paintings are hand-painted originals, and are often depictions and renderings of her digital images. Natalie feels that painting gives her a visual gratification of feeling and seeing the paintings evolve. “Funny that I noticed that while I’m painting, I’m praying to God, and while I’m taking photographs, I’m thanking God!”
The images that inspire Natalie the most are usually of local wildlife, landscapes, skyscapes, trees, ferns, and flowers, people, and those moments in time that you know are limited to that very moment. Sometimes the images evolve and appear as the colors and dimensions start to define themselves.
Natalie has been painting in acrylics since 1986 when she moved to Vermont. She prefers to paint on oversized and life-size canvases as well as trompe l’oiel murals on canvas. Her paintings are hand-painted originals, and are often depictions and renderings of her digital images. Natalie feels that painting gives her a visual gratification of feeling and seeing the paintings evolve. “Funny that I noticed that while I’m painting, I’m praying to God, and while I’m taking photographs, I’m thanking God!”
The images that inspire Natalie the most are usually of local wildlife, landscapes, skyscapes, trees, ferns, and flowers, people, and those moments in time that you know are limited to that very moment. Sometimes the images evolve and appear as the colors and dimensions start to define themselves.
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