Illustration exhibit in Benton Saturday

Artist, illustrator and cartoonist Ron Wing will host his annual exhibition at The West Creek Gallery in the historic Cole's Mill in Benton on Saturday, Sept. 14, from 5 to 9 pm. (Benton is about half an hour's drive from Bloomsburg.)

Guest artists will include Cheryl Fallon, Jody Fallon and Mary Ellen Minnier. The show is one night only.

Wing's work will be familiar to many people with children as he illustrated many Choose you Own Adventure books. He was  born in 1929 in San Diego, studied fine art for several years before serving in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. After three years in the Navy, he returned to Pratt Institute and graduated in 1954. He lived and worked in New York City for most of the 50’s, where he earned his living as a cartoonist and illustrator. During this time he continued to paint and periodically sell his fine art. He left NYC for Red Bank, New Jersey and then moved to Columbia County, Pennsylvania in the early 60’s. As a commercial artist and cartoonist for over 50 years, Ron Wing’s work has been published in such magazines as Business Week, Argosy, Pageant, Coronet, Reader’s Digest and The Saturday Evening Post. For the last 45 years, Ron has lived in the historic Cole’s Mill in Benton.

This news comes from Cheryl Fallon, who write that a GPS may not get you there, so here's the directions: From Bloomsburg take Rte 487 to Benton. Turn LEFT onto Rte 239N. The mill is located on the LEFT side just after the bridge after Fritz Hill Road and Cole's Creek Mill Road. 

More details are here: https://www.facebook.com/events/419824211470145/

An unexpected exhibit on Main Street

Here's a great example of artistic initiative. A group of graduating BU art students are showing their work in a downtown storefront.

Dubbing their show the "Senior Squat Exhibit," the students will display their work at 40 East Main Street until Saturday, April 27 (Renaissance Jamboree). The gallery space, donated by Jag Student Housing, will be open from noon to 8 pm daily except for Sundays, when it will be noon to 6 pm. There will be an opening reception Friday, April 19, from 3 to 6 pm.

I had a chance to get a peek at the show as it was going up over the weekend. Definitely worth a walk on Main Street ... the students' work is big, bold and ambitious. I've posted the photo above to give a sense of the scale they've worked in without giving away the details. —EFG.

Students exhibiting in Haas

BU students are exhibiting their work in the Haas Gallery through Tuesday, April 9. Approximately two dozen students are exhibiting about 40 pieces in a variety of media. An artists' reception will be held Friday, March 29, from 7 to 9 pm.

Upcoming shows at Haas Gallery include:

• An exhibit of works by Toshiko Takaezu from April 17 to May 1. The show of works by the late, internationally-renowned  ceramicist is being organized by the museum exhibition class. Takaezu was a close personal friend of BU professor emeritus Karl Beamer and she contributed many works to the university.
• The BU senior exit show will open May 8 and run to May 18.

Reception for Larry Ney at Artspace

There will be an artists' reception for Larry Ney II Saturday, March 9, from 6 to 8 pm at Artspace Gallery, 221 Center Street.

I love Ney's work. He goes big, abstract, bold. He uses color very powerfully. But to me eye, there's an additional beauty in his brushwork, which seems simultaneously spontaneous and controlled. For me, it recalls Japanese Sumi-e ink painting with a bolder palette.  — EGF.

I see creepy colored objects

Painter Kay Knight is exhibiting her work in Bloomsburg University's Haas Gallery of Art through Oct. 11.

Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm, Saturday from noon to 2 pm and closed Sunday.

A reception will be held Oct. 11 from 11 am to 2 pm.

Her online gallery is definitely worth checking out. At a glance her works are colorful and structured. But look just a moment longer and something unsettling creeps in. Cool. — EGF.

Larry Ney joins Artspace

I was walking past the Artspace Gallery on Center Street about a week ago on my way to pick up chinese takeout and I spotted someone new at the counter inside. Larry Ney II has now joined the gallery as a member. 

I dig his work. A lot.

At a fast glance ... it's impressionistic and drawn from nature ... but that's just a starting point. The connection of brush to paint to canvas is so much more personal. Landscape is just an entry point for a very personal expression. When I see one of his paintings, I need to stop, to look, to reflect. They are really gorgeous.

—EGF.

When I'm working with student's trying to explain design concepts at BU, I often refer them to King Crimson as the musical (aural) equivalent of various visual ideas. Here's a live performance of Matte Kudasai. To my mind, it fits.