New Art Exhibit Coming November 17! SFoA Presents Art by Waverley Ray.

October 28, 2019October 28, 2019 | Skip Gosnell

An exhibition of original art by Waverley Ray will be on display from November 17 through December 30 at Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Ascent, the name of Ms. Ray’s show, is about “the ascent of the artist as we learn to create what we love; realizing the process of making the art is the essential oil that keeps our souls fed. The outcome is always an unknown and, while we hope people find our images exciting and interesting, it is not as important as the authenticity of our offerings.”

Her family settled in Swarthmore, at the wooded end of Elm, in 1977. With degrees in Social Work, Clinical Care and Counseling, she has enjoyed living in Philadelphia, PA, Boston, MA, Boulder, CO, Cape May, NJ, and Carlsbad, CA. Ms Ray creates in multiple mediums. As a Graphic Designer she designed video game characters and packaging graphics. Having retired from Social Work Ms Ray pursues creative endeavors full time. Currently she is writing books in the Sci-Fi, Horror and Cozy Mystery genres. Her photographic images she creates are what she hopes will be commercially viable art.

Exhibit hours are Monday to Thursday 9 am to 8 pm, Friday 10 am to 7 pm, Saturday 10 am to 3 pm, Sunday 1 to 5 pm.

The exhibit is sponsored by Swarthmore Friends of the Arts. For information about Swarthmore Friends of the Arts, visit www.swarthmorearts.org or contact Exhibit Chair Martha Perkins, martha.perkins@gmail.com.

New Art Exhibit Coming in September! SFoA Presents Paintings by Deena Ball.

August 29, 2019August 30, 2019 | Skip Gosnell

Before the Rainbow
Safe Harbor
Water’s Edge

An exhibition of original watercolor and mixed media paintings by local artist Deena Ball will be on display from September 5 through September 30 at Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore. The public is invited to the artist’s opening reception on Friday September 6, from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Both the exhibit and the opening are free and open to the public.

The exhibit presents paintings by Ms. Ball the subject matter primarily in landscape and abstract. Deena’s love of nature, science and art comes together when she paints outside. She is a student of nature who is constantly amazed at the natural world. She paints to help others see, respect, and conserve the beauty in our natural world. “Art is all around us, and we are all artists when we open our eyes to the beauty in our surroundings.”

Through her own work with experimental watercolors she presents the viewer with the beauty and fragility of our natural landscape – testing new materials and techniques, incorporating textural elements such as gesso, and different types of paper. “I encourage students to engage in outside-the-box thinking and reimagine how their materials might be used to create art. Students depart my classes and workshops with not just a pretty object in hand, but a greater appreciation of the visual subtleties in their environment and confidence in themselves as creative individuals.”

Ms. Ball belongs to a variety of creative organizations such as the Philadelphia WaterColor Society, with teachings and workshops held in nearby locations such as Community Arts Center in Wallingford, and the Brandywine River Museum of Art in Chadds Ford.

Additional information about the artist is available on her website www.deenaball.com, which includes a complete listing of organizations, teachings, workshops, and awards among others.

Exhibit hours are Monday to Thursday 9 am to 8 pm, Friday 10 am to 7 pm, Saturday 10 am to 3 pm, Sunday 1 to 5 pm.

New Art Exhibit Coming in August! SFoA Presents Photography by Jay Ressler.

July 25, 2019 | Skip Gosnell

“Country Roads: An Uncommon Take”

An exhibition of original photographs by artist Jay Ressler will be on display from August 1st through September 1st, 2019, at Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore. The public is invited to the artist’s opening reception on Friday, August 2nd, from 6 pm to 8 pm. Both the exhibit and the opening are free, kid-friendly and open to the public.

The artist is a native of Berks County. He graduated from Albright College with a degree in psychology and afterward relocated to Pittsburgh, working as a coal miner and later as a foundry machinist. He was very active in the arts, participating as a member of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh and serving as a board member for the Pittsburgh Society of Artists.

Mr. Ressler has exhibited throughout the area including, among others, the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, the Art Association of Harrisburg and the Lancaster County Art Association.

As a digital photographer, Mr. Ressler creates intriguing composite photographic images. This exhibition offers a set of contemplative rural photographs, evoking a sense of somber reflection into our countryside history. The artist says: “I explore boundaries — the boundaries between consciousness and the unconscious; between reality and imagination; between humanity and nature; and between certainty and skepticism. The result often conjures up a note of mystery or magic.”

For more information on Jay Ressler and his work, follow this link: JayRessler.com

Exhibit hours are Monday to Thursday 9 am to 8 pm, Friday 10 am to 7 pm, Saturday 10 am to 3 pm, Sunday 1 to 5 pm.

Swarthmore First Friday Event! Come Meet the Local Area Artists at Our Group Show Reception June 7, 6-8PM

June 3, 2019June 3, 2019 | Skip Gosnell

celebrateLocalArtists@0,5x The June 2019 Celebrate Swarthmore Area Artists is opening this week! The show will be held at Swarthmore Borough Hall for the month of June. The public is invited to the artists’ reception on Friday June 7, from 6 to 8 pm. The event is free, child friendly, and there will be beverages and hors d’oeuvres.

An exhibition of original art by area artists from Swarthmore, Rutledge, Wallingford, Nether Providence, and Rose Valley will be on display from June 6 through June 30, 2019, at Swarthmore Borough Hall, 121 Park Avenue, Swarthmore. The exhibit is open to the public during the Hall’s hours of operation.

Exhibitors include: Elizabeth Breakell, Bonnie Ann Burnett, Sydney Evans, Bob Frick, Skip Gosnell, Cathy Kambic, Kevin Koethe, Marie Koethe, Carolyn Langdon, Lora Lavin, Maria Mooney, Eileen Morrissey, Elizabeth O’donnell, Martha Perkins, Pete Prown, Brit Ray, Christopher Ray, Wendelin Ray, Frank Reynolds, Kim Scott, Caroline Stockman

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, the community group responsible for the rotating art exhibits at Swarthmore Borough Hall. For information about Swarthmore Friends of the Arts visit www.swarthmorearts.org.

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.