Artist Statement

My primary focus when sculpting is the female human spirt that comes from being raised in a family of strong women. Often, I like to convey a message or tell a story through my sculpture. “Beyond the Yellow Brick Road” as we know it from the book and movie, The Wizard of Oz, is referred to as a spiritual allegory. By searching for answers in life, as you travel the yellow brick road and then reach the end of the road, you come to realize the answers are inside you and you have the power to control your own destiny through your God given talents.

“Beyond the Yellow Brick Road” was coil built with Max White paper clay; the story was drawn and incised on the surface, and when the clay was bone dry, terra sigillata was applied with Mason stains. After bisque firing, copper oxide wash was applied and wiped off, then the sculpture was fired a second time. The color was enhanced by the application of a matte sealer.

Biography

When Katty Smith grew up in the small rural southern town of Halifax, Virginia, art was not a topic of discussion among the less than one thousand residents.  The opportunities to express any artistic ability were somewhat limited to coloring books and drawing scenes on the chalkboard. None the less, having a very large closely knit extended family, highlighted by frequent memorable gatherings, and knowing most people in the town made the formative years a wonderful experience.

A year and a half at The Woman’s College of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro was put on hold when Katty married her high school sweetheart.   Ten years later with two children on board, she began her journey to a B.S. degree from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro and eventually earned an MBA from the University of Toledo at age fifty-nine.  Anytime there was an opportunity to go to school, Katty was right there ready to enroll.

In 2008, at age sixty-five, Katty enrolled at Armstrong Atlantic State University, Savannah, GA, in a ceramic sculpting class.  The first day of class when she received her chunk of clay, her lifetime search ended and her passionate journey began. Never once in her sixty-five years of life had Katty ever dreamed of being an artist.

After moving to Florida in 2010, Katty enrolled at Crealde School of Art in Winter Park, FL, for three years of ceramic sculpting classes.   The purchase of a house with a large garage and a new kiln allowed Katty to become a studio artist in New Smyrna Beach, FL, in 2013.  Now in her spare time, she plays tennis and volunteers locally at The Hub Gallery on Canal, at the Artists’ Workshop, Inc., and teaches occasional sculpting workshops.   She belongs to art associations that offer exhibiting opportunities and has won numerous awards to include four best in show awards. Katty currently exhibits her work at The Hub on Canal in New Smyrna Beach.

Artist Statement

“Falling Leaves” actually started out as a series of compositional sketches for a larger painting. The model I happened to be working with at that time had long, red, wavy hair, and that led me to think about how I could possibly express the qualities of her hair in one my favorite mediums, metalpoint drawing, which is traditionally devoid of both color and texture.

Control over traditional metalpoint (gold, silver, platinum, ect) can be a somewhat capricious enterprise because the materials have something of a life of their own. It’s these “living qualities” of metalpoint that I prize however. That the metals oxidize and organically transform with time, that marks can’t be erased and serve as historical reminders of the mistakes that lead to a finished work are part of what make the medium so captivating to me. In trying to add ferrous metals to the equation, I found myself struggling to gain the necessary control required to create realistic works. After countless hours of experiments (including a destroyed prior version of the drawing), I ascertained how to best control the oxidizing/rusting process, how to influence the color/value of the rust, and how to not destroy the other metals used in the process.

My desire to express particular qualities of the model, which were limited by the media, compelled me to invent and experiment. “Falling Leaves” represents a theme I constantly finding myself wrestling with as an artist, marrying the traditional and classical with contemporary progress. In “Falling Leaves” this marriage led to a unique work which is pushing my endeavors in metalpoint in exciting new directions.

Art Biography

Based in Wilmington, DE, Jarred Fisher is a contemporary realist artist. He studied at Nelson Shank’s Studio Incamminati in Philadelphia, PA, graduating in 2016. He also holds a degree in Fine Art from Delaware College of Art and Design in Wilmington, DE.

His work has been part of numerous juried exhibitions including shows at Freeman’s Auction House in Philadelphia, PA, Manitou galleries in Santa Fe, NM, and Stanek Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. His work has also received various recognitions and awards.

As a firm believer in the importance of skills-based art education, Fisher also serves as an Upper School Art teacher at Doane Academy in Burlington, New Jersey as part of Studio Incamminati’s outreach program.

Artist Statement

Artist Statement

The painting depicts three professional brazilian dancers that I saw performing at a at a performance in their full regalia. Being an admirer of Caravaggio, Joe has recreated several of the master’s works in an effort to gain a greater understanding of his phenomenal skills. As Joe says, “You get a better view when you stand on the shoulders of giants.” Grenn’s other works include landscapes, portraits and figures that hopefully evoke a special place in time. His favorite saying and belief is “the historian tells what happened, but the artist tells what it felt like.”

Biography

Joe Grenn is a native of New Bedford, Massachusetts, received his education in Boston and concluded as a Harvard postdoctoral fellow . He moved to Marin County in1972, maintained a private practice in endodontics in San Francisco, lectured internationally and was a clinical professor at the University of California School of Dentistry form 1972 until his retirement in 2015. He has since dedicated his time to his long time love of oil painting,

Joe maintains a studio at 39 Liberty Ship Way on the Liberty Ship Dock in Sausalito and is a board member of the Marin Society of Artists. Joe’s goal is to embrace special moments in time and share them on canvas. His paintings include landscapes, portraits and figures.

Art Resume

Accepted in juried Marin Fair 2o15, “Kira in Venice”

Honorable mention in Marin Fair 2016, “The Taking of Christ”

Second place in Marin Society of Artists’ “2015 People’s Choice Award” 2016, “The Taking of Christ”

Featured Artist Marin Society of Artists, April 2016 to June 2106

Honorable Mention in Marin Society of Artists’,“In Your Dreams” juried show two entries 10-1-2016, “St Francis in Ecstacy” and “Wilanowa”

Honorable Mention in Beauhaus Gallery juried show, 10-28-2015, “After the Rain” and “Les Beaux des Provence”

Honorable mention Marin Society of Artists “Members Show” juried show

11-1-2106 for “Rodeo Beach”, three entries accepted , “Rodeo  Beach”, “After the Rain” and “Les Baux des  Provence”

Featured Artist at Marin Society of Artists, December 2016 to Feb, 2107

Honorable mention in Marin Society of Artists “Two of a Kind” show, “Zwanda” and  “Chinois”

Second place in Marin Society of Artists juried show “Atmopheric Wonders”, “Les Baux des Provence”

Honorable Mention in Beauhaus Gallery juried show, “The Figure”, 3-14-2017, “Thea”

Accepted in juried Marin Fair 2017, “Thea” and “Kira in Black”

Featured Artist at Marin Society of Artists, March 2017 to May 2017

Featured Artist at Marin Society of Artists, June 2017 to August 2017

Honorable Mention in Marin Society of Artists juried show, “Down on the Corner”, 8-8-2017, “After the Rain”

Two Honorable Mentions in Sacramento Society of Artists juried show, “Painting in the Style of the Masters”, 9-2-2017-2017,

“The Taking of Christ, After Caravaggio” and “Le Frere ( After Theodore Gericault’s Portrait of a Kleptomaniac)

Accepted into juried California Plein Air Painters2 017 International Challenge Exhibit, “Vernazza”, September, 2017

Artist’s Statement

I’ve loved drawing from the figure all my life or at least since art school in the 1970s. Last summer I decided to experiment with some larger pieces, working from a 40-inch-wide roll of Strathmore Drawing paper. I wanted to loosen up and try to achieve a feeling of spontaneity. A day at Jones Beach in New York provided the perfect subject. During the hot summer months a narrow strip of the Earth a few hundred yards wide and several miles long is jammed with tens of thousands of human beings. Walking the length of the beach there are scores of languages and even more skin colors. Everyone is as close to being naked as legally possible and there are no inhibitions. It’s a scene of teeming, scrambling children, adults trying haplessly to keep track of them, then giving up and behaving like them. There are intimate couples threading quietly through whole extended families and solitary individuals just contemplating the pounding surf. And I guess that could be me right there in the middle, taking everything in. All under the hazy disk of the sweltering sun. Getting a sense of all that movement and sound made looseness and spontaneity virtually unavoidable. This was easily the most fun drawing I’ve ever done.

Exhibits and Awards

5/18    The Figure, Group Show, Bauhaus Prairie Online Gallery* 4th Place Award
11/16   Colleagues and Friends Bruce Waldman Group ShowMehu Gallery, NYC
11/12   Art of Democracy Group Show, American Society of Etchers Sacred Gallery, NYC
03/12  Weather or Not Art on the Pier Group Show, NCECA National Conference, Seattle WA
06/11   International Exhibition of Contemporary Works on Paper Group Show NYCoo Gallery, NYC
11/10   Paths to Peace Invitational Group Show, Paramount Theater, Peekskill, NY

10/10   Faced Solo show — ceramics and prints, Flat Iron Gallery, Peekskill, NY
06/05   Theatrics Solo show — ceramics, Flat Iron Gallery, Peekskill, NY
05/03   Works on Paper Solo show — Drawings and Watercolors, Harrison Public Library, Harrison, NY
05/02   Juried Non-Members Show Salmagundi Club, New York, NY
04/02   Annual Juried Show New Haven Paint and Clay Club New Haven, CT
02/02   Invitational Teapot Show Flat Iron Gallery, Peekskill, NY
04/01   Annual Juried Show Kent Art Association, Kent, CT * Winner, Best Drawing in Show
02/01   Wall art for Story Pots show of ceramics Flat Iron Gallery, Peekskill, NY

12/00  Annual Juried Show Belle Levine Art Center, Mahopac, NY, Publications
Fall/12 Inkwell Journa  Cover illustration
06/05  Ceramics Monthly magazine Upfront
10/98  Wrote and illustrated Michelangelo’s Surprise Childrens picture book published by Farrar Straus Giroux, NYC
11/98 Booklist Magazine