March’s Art Exhibit presents artwork by Skip Gosnell, Reception Friday, March 4th, 6-8pm

February 16, 2022February 16, 2022 | Skip Gosnell

Wave No.24 by Skip Gosnell

Abstract by Skip Gosnell

March’s Art Exhibit “Seeking the Next Wave”, presents the artwork of Skip Gosnell, opening March 2nd.

An exhibition of original acrylic paintings and mixed media by local artist Skip Gosnell will be on display from March 2 through March 28 at Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore. The public is invited to the artist’s opening reception on Friday March 4th, from 6 to 8 pm. Both the exhibit and the reception are free and open to the public. Complimentary beverages and hors-d’oeuvres to enjoy!

The exhibit presents paintings by Mr. Gosnell, the subject matter primarily in seascapes and other abstract designs using acrylics and india inks (among other media) on canvas. His work captures the energy of ocean waves and fluid motion of the sea along with experimental graphic design inspired abstracts. “Waves continuously roll up the shoreline yet are never the same. Mixing media, experimenting with how paint types blend and separate, and varying varnishes with epoxy resin often lead to rich unexpected results”. Mr. Gosnell creates layered works with an illusion of depth, pops of color, and contrasting shapes.

Mr. Gosnell sold his first painting at his high school art show, then continued his art education at the University of Delaware with a BS in Visual Communications. With a background in graphic design and photography, he continues developing his painting style through experimentation, Plein air painting, and artist workshops. Follow his art on Instagram and check out his online art gallery at skipgosnellart.com

The exhibit is free and open to the public. Exhibit hours are M-Th 9am – 8pm, Fri 10am – 7pm, Sat 10am – 3pm, Sun 1 – 5pm.

The exhibit is sponsored by Swarthmore Friends of the Arts. For information about Swarthmore Friends of the Arts or to submit a request for your own show, visit www.swarthmorearts.org or contact Martha Perkins, martha.perkins@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for exhibition schedules and images of amazing artwork.

Rose Marie Cunniffe – “Enchanted Places” : April 3rd – May 4th, 2015

March 24, 2015March 31, 2022 | Martha Perkins

An exhibition of acrylic paintings by area artist Rose Marie Cunniffe will be on display at Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore, from April 3 to May 4, 2015. The public is invited to the artist’s reception on Friday April 10 from 6 to 8 pm. The reception and the exhibit are both free and open to the public.

The exhibit is entitled “Enchanted Places” and presents the paintings of Ms. Cunniffe, who has been called “a secret Delaware County treasure.” A largely self-taught artist whose nature-based abstractions are built slowly, layer by layer. Ms. Cunniffe lives in Holmes and was born, raised and educated in Philadelphia. She says, “I paint until a shape or color strikes a chord, and then the work begins. Eventually the painting tells a story and the canvas itself has a history.” Personal memories also play a role in her work. “In the process I strive for grace, a restrained sense of humor and the lyrical feeling that satisfies my sensibilities.”

Despite Ms. Cunniffe saying that she came to art later in life than most, her work has been included in more than 200 solo, group and juried exhibitions, including venues as varied as the Philadelphia Art Alliance; Delaware Center for Contemporary Art, Wilmington; Widener University; West Chester University; Penn State University, Malvern and Media campuses; Art of the State, Harrisburg; U.S. Artists American Fine Art Show (with Dolan/Maxwell Gallery); Philadelphia Sketch Club; Main Line Art Center, Haverford; and the Wallingford Community Arts Center, where she is a member of the Exhibition Committee and has been active in curating and installing shows for more than 30 years. Her most distant exhibition was in Ireland, where she received two fellowships to live and paint at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in County Mayo.

Ms. Cunniffe’s work has also been selected for many individual and corporate collections, including QVC, The Scullin Group, Philadelphia Arts and Business Council, the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, PA, Astra-Zeneca and The Ballinglen Archive.

The artist hopes that her work inspires people to find meaning in her paintings and hopes to encourage “thinking and feeling and looking, and especially finding.” Examples of her work can be found on her website, rmcunniffe.com.

Michele Southworth – “Along The Way” : November 15 through December 30, 2014

November 7, 2014March 31, 2022 | Martha Perkins

In the Big City - Southworth — “In The Big City” – Michele Southworth

An exhibition of mixed media paintings and ceramic work by area artist Michele Southworth will be on display from November 15 through December 30, 2014 at Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore. The public is invited to the artist’s reception on Friday December 5 from 6 to 8 pm, scheduled as part of Swarthmore’s First Friday. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The exhibit, entitled “Along the Way” presents selected work by Ms. Southworth, a Lansdowne artist and former longtime Swarthmore resident, from the last 20 years. Her more recent impressionistic, semi-abstract paintings and her older ceramic work have been called “playful and even exuberant, with a twist that causes the viewer to look more deeply at what is being depicted”. Her work is often inspired by city scenes, figures and nature, all with a sense of light and joy.

Ms. Southworth attended ceramics classes at Swarthmore High School in the 1960s; upon her return to the area after 20 years away, she then studied ceramics again as an adult at the Wallingford Arts Center with local ceramic artists Robert Deane, Anne Suchecki, and Barbara Hanselman, as well as with her former high school ceramics teacher Trudy Battershaw. Feeling the need to explore a new medium after a number of years, she took a class at the Arts Center in mixed media in 2011 from local mixed media painter Nancy Barch, and says that she has “never looked back”. A former attorney, she works as a family therapist and divorce mediator in Swarthmore and Philadelphia as her “day job”. Because of this work, she says “I know I could devote some time to figuring out the meaning of my work in my psyche. Part of the joy of artistic creation for me, though, lies in fully indulging the part of me that wants the pure experience of creation, unmediated by logic, purposefulness, or even comprehension.”

Ms. Southworth has exhibited locally in a number of area shows and juried exhibits, including at the Wallingford Community Arts Center, and has won several prizes for her mixed media and ceramic work. She is in the process of establishing a painting studio in Lansdown, where she will continue to develop her mixed media paintings. You can see more of her art on her website, michelesouthworthart.com.