JOANNE WAZNY

"I'm addicted to taking photos and to the beauty of Vermont. I have tons of 'pretty pictures.' There is nothing wrong with that, but I started thinking about some of my other images: fungi, decay, pollution, the underside of things, the harshness of winter. And you know what? It is all beautiful! Beauty, art, and creativity must be important because they surround us. While the functional items made by humans may hit the mark occasionally, everything in nature is beautiful for no apparent reason. So, I've come full circle. I'll continue taking pretty pictures but with an eye toward the shadows as well as the light."

KAREN SCHEFFLER

"Our fourth year together! I am continually thankful for the opportunity to share with others this creative energy that flows, surges, whispers and shouts, or simply spills over with the joy of life. Stained glass can flood one space with illuminated color as it shelters another space from view, or can fuse with its surroundings giving a lustrous interpretation of light while hiding nothing. This year I have chosen to form smaller, portable panels to be moved from one place to another at whim-- in front of a window to translate the natural light there, or to a table where the light within the room gives it another transposition. As for the energy, it is a deluge of joy for the beauty in life.

MARTHA OHLIGER

"When I first started to paint and exhibit still lives, I was surprised at the positive reaction of the people who saw them. I realized that people looked on these familiar dishes with affection and nostalgia, so I began to try to make art about family connections, generations, and what people cherish. My paintings are a reminder that the rural character of Vermont never prevented people from appreciating beauty as well as function. I work intuitively without thumbnails, value studies or sometimes even a defined composition, using traditional oils in a realistic manner. I like to think of my paintings as snapshots from a family."

PAM KROUT-VOSS

"This exhibit includes works on the theme of the 'Great Blue Heron.' The study began several years ago after canoeing out to the heron rookery on Lake Champlain. I can now say, after spending a week at the Johnson Studio School in April, that I am ready to move onto the next venture. I have included 3 dimensional sculptures that combine my love of fibers and textures with this subject, photography, drawings from a nonfiction children's book, and a painting."

BOB ELDRIDGE

Self-taught wildlife painter, Bob Eldridge grew up loving birds and mammals found in the wild, which remain at the center of many of his paintings. However, Bob also investigates with his paintbrush historical figures (Jesuit priests in the New World), as well as biographical imaginations (Abraham Brown for the Community Arts Project), and is especially interested in "how much one planned brush stroke can convey."

ANDREW WOOTEN

" I sell my work under the business name of Blue Moon Designs and joined AIR as a charter member four years ago. Lately, I have been working with more abstract versions of my clothing with random tying and dyeing methods as well as trying to nail down the method for creating more intricate mandala-style clothing and wall hangings. "

PETER WEYRAUCH

" I love working in classic black and white. Taking the impact of color away from an image breaks it down to the true tonal range and invokes a sense of depth and clarity. I find it intriguing to study a subject to find whether I can remove the color's emotional impact to achieve that elusive sense of wonder and depth, yet still inspire a profound connection to the viewer. I strive to make my prints come alive as much as possible without manipulating them on a computer, though I certainly appreciate those who do it well. I create art inside the camera on one frame. What you see is what I saw, not an illusion. "

PAT MURPHY

Pat Murphy is an artist who has been involved with the AIR gallery since its beginning. Pat studied both in America and England, and works in primarily oils. The new works use ideas, songs, stories, and memories of people and places to create paintings that we might feel but not necessarily see. "It's a new approach for me. One that I've been trying to get at for years. I want to use personal and collective memories of small town America as a springboard for talking about our lives."