LORRAINE PIKE

Lorraine Pike is a self-taught artist who resides in Franklin County with her husband Steve and their dog Jak and two cats, Bangs and Shadow. Lorraine's unique and distinctive style of tole painting and love of antiques have given a whole new meaning to recycling. She finds many of her wooden items at antique shops, garage sales, and auctions. Each item has a story and it shows in her original primitive creations. Her pieces have found their way into many homes. Most items are one-of-a-kind. She hopes you will enjoy her creations as much as she has enjoyed painting them.

KRISTAN DOOLAN

"I have lived in Vermont for nearly all of my life and find it an incredibly beautiful place to live. As a farmer and mother of young children I cherish the little time I find to paint, but everyday I am appreciating all that surrounds me. I spend a lot of time caring for painting and drawing. I love the potential of watercolor. In my work I try to let the paint maintain its vibrancy and life as I work to portray the beauty of Vermont."

NANCY HAYDEN

"Last April, I was a resident at the Vermont Studio Center for sculpture. My medium-- books! I cut, sewed, drilled, glued, painted, and filled them. At the Burlington Art Hop this past September, I showed six pieces that I had started at the VSC, but finished this past summer. I also attended a few meetings of the Vermont Book Arts Guild and came up with altered art and altered book ideas to last a lifetime. One of the sculptural pieces I am showing at AIR this winter is an altered book piece called 'Body of Knowledge.' Little by little people are turning themselves into machines, incapable of thinking and caring for themselves without the direction of some outside specialist. This piece, built from encyclopedias I found at the dump, is about the need to look inside of ourselves to find the wisdom and understanding inherent in our own bodies and psyche. This piece is interactive, and all the books open to an inner space that is sometimes dark and scary, sometimes joyful, fun, and wise. Another piece called 'Old and New' is made from a 1940's piece of linen (from my Great Aunt's upholstery scraps) with bean pods sewed on. Besides altered art sculpture, I still enjoy painting, especially scenes from our farm. Another piece I am featuring is a painting of corn (close up) called 'No GMO!' Over 85% of the corn produced in the US is genetically modified, most by adding genes from a bacterium that produces bacterial proteins within the corn plant. While genetically modified corn is literally everywhere, consumers had no say in this decision, there is no mandatory labeling of GM products, and the long-term ecological and human health effects are unknown. Pretty scary stuff! The corn on our farm is not genetically modified, therefore, 'No GMO!' is both a statement and a protest."

HARALD AKSDAL

"Because I came to my career as an artist relatively late in life, I usually include in my bio a comment about 'becoming the artist I always was.' I've been thinking lately, though, it might be more accurate to say, 'becoming the reclusive artist that I always was.' I find making art is an intensely personal, almost revelationary, experience. The act of capturing a tree's essence on paper seems to complete the communication began when we first met, and binds us together in an intimate relationship. I know it, and it knows me. And although I welcome visitors to my studio, the presence of others does become a distraction. This 'recluse suspicion' has been building for months, and I finally accepted its confirmation while on a hunting trip with my oldest daughter's husband and my youngest daughter's boyfriend. At a secluded cabin in northern New Hampshire, the young bucks set off each morning to track their trophies. I, too, set off with gun and ammo-- but more in case something stumbled across my path than the reverse. For more importantly, I carried my camera, sketch pad, and pencil, and my real hunt was for trees who wanted their stories told. The stillness of that area was beyond description and the hours spent there filled my soul in a way that chatter never has. One tree in particular called out to me, and I'm eager to continue our conversation-- and what better time than winter in Vermont to practice being a reclusive artist!"

*Note from the Editor*

I would like to extend my apologies to the November AIR artists for my belated posting of your work. My maintenance of the blog was delayed last month and I recently realized that I had mistakenly assumed I had completed your posting. All the featured artists from November are now posted with a backdate in order to categorize their exhibition month correctly.

I will do my best to not allow such an error to occur again!

CHARLOTTE ROSSHANDLER

Charlotte Rosshandler has worked as an Artist/Photographer for the past 30 years, exhibiting internationally, as well as being invited to provide photography for various types of books, catalogues, newspapers, etc. She has been living full time in Vermont for 10 years. Her artwork is now totally influenced by the nature around her and has become a personal interpretation of the spirit which she senses in the landscape. She would like for her pictures to be able to relate these thoughts and express her feelings. This present exhibition at AIR is a reflection of the sensations of her past summer.

JAN BRODSKY

"Knitting is a link to my heritage. It's one of the many crafts taught to me by my grandmother as a child some 40 years ago. In the past, I've designed my hand-knit creations based on the trendy colors of fashion designer's runways. Lately, I find my color palette imitates warm colors of nature... lots of green, gold, mulberry, and neutrals. Occasionally mixing it up with a shocking pink or a metallic eyelash yarn brings the WOW! factor to my one-of-a-kind designs. 'Knit to be Tied' is a unique scarf collection that can easily accessorize an outfit year round or provide fashion forward warmth on a cold winter's day."

ANN ALLEN

"The desire to create my own Christmas card and a photo taken at the family Christmas gathering last year was the inspiration for this painting. My hope was to capture the magic and excitement that children bring to Christmas. After all, isn't that what we all remember and cherish the most about the Holidays."

In addition, Ann shares her space with a few fellow artists:

Pamela Tobin, Covered Bridge

Mary Reed, Buck

Cordell Smart, Stone Wall