External Exhibitions

Erika Lawlor Schmidt, mixed media chine colle

Erika Lawlor Schmidt’s work is about the assimilation of observation and experience of the body, psyche and spiritual life force, and finding connections the world around us. She most often works in 'series' arriving through a collage sensibility where fragments, images and symbolic elements are integrated fused layered in order to capture a momentary glimpse, thought or view. A view that originates in a belief she shares with Eastern philosophies, in that the world is made up of a complex web of interrelating parts, where the division of nature into separate objects is not fundamental, rather fluid and ever-changing in character, a view that contains time and change as essential features.

Schmidt uses a variety of materials and sources in her work and creates time-based performance media as well. The integration of mediums is essential to expressing a search for balance within ambiguous and incongruent experience. Key visual elements are repletion, rhythm and pattern. Process and ritual are also important to reflecting upon the intrinsic circular nature of all things. Through her work, she locates and reveals wide-ranged yet fragile connections within co-existing systems. This becomes a means toward discovering that in order to achieve unity, one must avoid separating the elements.

Ursprung is an expression for the source from where everything emerges, a term that aptly describes this series of monotypes. The process was a way for Schmidt to explore her visual interpretation for meditation practice with a mantra.

Druppa, photographs

Begun while on solitary retreat in a secluded cabin at a Vermont Buddhist meditation center—‘FREEZE / THAW’ is a series of photographs documenting the formation and dissolution of stream ice over the course of several months. Amid days of deep meditation, camera in hand, Druppa followed the cascading stream up and down the mountain, contemplating the spontaneous shapes formed by the ice—seeing in those shapes and their dissolution the impermanence of all things.

Because of the temperature that winter, the stream’s endlessly inventive formations dissolved and reformed many times. Beneath its restless bed of ice the stream flowed ever onward. ‘Freeze/Thaw’ invites us to see all forms, however temporary, as empty yet real. Forms exist for a time, pass away, and reappear in different shapes. However fleeting our lives, or uncertain the future of this beautiful planet, we exist against the background of the infinite possibilities of completely open space.

Casey Blanchard (pictured)

Primarily a self-taught artist, Casey explores her experiences through the engaging and often unpredictable print medium of monoprinting. She is most interested in the spiritual aspects that emerge in the image, particularly relating to how we live in the world and how the world lives in us. In the beginning, the work may be a search for answers, but in the end it's more about being here without them.

Casey Blanchard was born in Greenwich, CT in 1953. She lives in Shelburne, VT with her husband, Dan Cox, and their daughter, Julia Cox. Her artwork is found on the walls of health care facilities, private residential collections, corporate offices, the hospitality industry, on web designs, and various published materials.

Johanne Durocher Yordan    

Johanne is a Burlington based artist who works out of her studio on Pine Street. She was born in Quebec, Canada, but has lived most of her life in Vermont. It was not until 1998 that Johanne began committing herself to her artwork and finding her own voice. She studied at the University of Vermont and has since developed a diverse body of work that is a testament to her ability to succeed as an independent artist. Creating work that fits a variety of audiences, while always building upon her unique self-taught style, is the secret to her success. Johanne has always been the type of person who explores on her own, tapping into the unknown and developing her own fashion and techniques. Many of her paintings include found or collected items which add depth and meaning to combine form and function to her work. Her abstract work captures her emotions and represents her unique style and expression. Johanne has exhibited her work extensively throughout Vermont in both solo and group exhibitions over the past 12 years.

Cameron Schmitz

Cameron Schmitz grew up in Greenwich, Connecticut and spent idle time in her youth drawing. Encouraged by two artistic parents, including her mother who is also a painter, she learned at a very early age the joy and satisfaction of participating in the visual arts. 
Schmitz holds a Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting & Drawing from the University of New Hampshire, in addition to studying Art and Art History at Studio Arts Center International in Florence, Italy. 

Following a month-long artist residency at the Vermont Studio Center in 2006, Schmitz moved to Vermont after discovering Vermont's rugged landscape to be uniquely inspirational. Now located in the Brattleboro area, Schmitz actively exhibits her work regionally and nationally. Her work has been featured at Fitchburg Art Museum's biannual exhibition, Ne England/New Talent, Green Mountain College, Kyoto Seika University in Japan, Emory University, Northern Arizona University Art Museum, and Rogue Space in Chelsea, New York. Her work is represented by The Drawing Room Art Gallery in Cos Cob, CT and Furchgott Sourdiffe in Shelburne, VT, and she is an artist member of the Copley Society of Art in Boston. In addition to her painting practice, Schmitz is also the Gallery Curator of The Drawing Room Art Gallery and teaches painting at the River Gallery School in Brattleboro, VT.

Carl Rubino
 
I strive to create unique interpretive, impressionistic and abstract images that relate my personal vision of or reaction to the subject matter before me.   Before I even pull out the camera I try to experience all that my subject reveals, or even what it makes illusive – not just the obvious, like the literal view, the colors, texture and patterns - but the less obvious sensual aspects, the energy and the “feeling” that it conveys. Whether in landscape, abstract, street photography, fine art nude or whatever else captures my interest, I seek to find and interpret life’s visual symphonies, one click at a time. 

I feel that to a large extent my photographs consist of three different points of view: the raw material that is the literal subject matter of the image that my camera captures; what I see, sense, and work to portray when I interpret that subject; and what the viewer sees when looking at the image on the wall.  Those may be three very distinct views of what is essentially rooted in the same thing.   That, to me, is stimulating art.  And that is a great part of what draws me to photography.

Jeff Schneiderman 

Jeff Schneiderman works as a wedding, portrait and fine art photographer in Williston, VT.  He has been taking photographs for over 35 years, traveled extensively throughout the U.S. and the world and has made Vermont his home for the last 27 years. Patterns are a major theme in Jeff’s work as he is fascinated with the designs in nature how they are reflected in things manmade.  More of Jeff's work can be seen at: www.jeffschneiderman.com."

Krista Cheney

Krista Cheney is a native Vermonter, currently living in St. George, Vermont. She studied English Literature and Agricultural Economics at the University of Vermont. She has studied photography since 2003, taking classes and workshops at local venues and the Maine Media Workshops in Rockport, Maine.

Carolyn Enz-Hack

Carolyn Enz-Hack's work includes painting, sculpture, and scenery design. While she has spent most of her life on a farm she holds a degree in theatrical design from Rutgers University and has spent years designing for the theatre. Her rural sensibility is informed by themes explored in ancient theatrical and religious literature, and by developments in cross-disciplinary Science. Each piece is an attempt to process the exterior world through an internal lens. Her most recent solo exhibitions have been at the Castleton Downtown Gallery in Rutland, Vermont, and Creare Inc. and the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center both in Lebanon, New Hampshire. She is the recipient of a Vermont Arts Endowment Award, a painting merit award from the Chaffee Center for the Arts, a residency at the Vermont Studio Center, and her work has been selected for exhibition in regional and nationally competitive shows.

Erinn Simon

Erinn Simon is a fiber artist and yarnbomber. She crochets tapestries, toys, baby mobiles, vegetables, baked goods, blankets, scarves for trees, and the occasional bloodthirsty zombie cupcake. Her work has appeared in group shows in Burlington, Seattle, and Australia and she ships her one of a kind creations to customers around the world. She lives in the Old North End of Burlington with her husband and three kids. You can find her on facebook as Callie Callie Jump Jump.

Jill Madden, oil landscape paintings (Blue Path)

Jill Madden grew up in coastal Rhode Island and currently lives in Weybridge, Vermont. She received a BA in East Asian Studies from Middlebury College, attended the New York Studio School, received a post-baccalaureate degree in Fine Art from Brandeis University and an MFA in painting from Boston University, where she held a Constantin Alajov Scholarship and studied with John Walker and John Moore. While a resident at the Vermont Studio School she studied with Lois Dodd, who remains an important influence. Jill has been a fellow at the Jentel Foundation, the Fairfield Porter Foundation, the Baer Art Center and the Pouch Cove Foundation. Madden paints primarily onsite, observing seasonal and climatic shifts.

Robert Hitzig, mixed media abstracts (Blue path)

Robert Hitzig loves that the meaning and intent of abstract geometric art is not immediately evident. It allows people to generate their own relationship to the work, create their own questions, and find their own meaning. It doesn’t hit you over the head with ideas about what to think and how to feel. It creates space for wonder, questions, and dialog, whether internally or with others. And for him, that is the point. To use art as a vehicle to explore, question, and, most importantly, to not know. Because not knowing helps us to break down our hardened beliefs in absolutes, in black and white. With irony, he loves the idea of using random shapes and colors to help people see the world in shades of gray. In this way, he hopes his art can create an opening for the viewer, providing an unexpected path for seeing the world in a less rigid way.

Chemo Gowns (Blue path) *on display through mid-February

Oncology Infusion Nurses took patient care to a new level last April when they participated in the first Chemogown Extravaganza entitled Infusion Fashions. Nurse models transformed blue chemotherapy gowns, worn when administering the medication, into simple and elaborate new gowns and walked the runway to uplifting music at Higher Ground in south Burlington. . All funds raised stayed local and the recipients were Hope Lodge and Road to Recovery, a program which provides patients rides to treatment centers. It was an evening of laughter and community support. A second Extravaganza is planned for April 12, 2025, at Higher Ground and includes a silent auction. It promises to be another night of laughter while raising money for family/friends undergoing cancer treatment.

Linda Blackerby, mixed media abstracts (McClure 4 & Mary Fletcher)

Linda Blackerby is a Vermont based abstract mixed media painter whose work is influenced by her passion for both interior design and travel. As she continues to evolve as an abstract and mixed media artist, she suspects she may be a colorist. She considers herself a color theory nerd and can happily experiment and mix colors for days. She is fascinated by what she can create with limited palettes, how colors interact, and can be used to create unlimited effects within a painting. She’s incorporating more texture into her art and that is taking her in new directions. She believes our spaces may be more important to us as safe havens and places to express our true selves than ever before. Her passion is to help art lovers use original work as a meaningful way to express their unique personality through their individual décor and style. She has a blast exploring color, shape, and texture in her studio to create expressive art that makes you feel uplifted, energized, and joyfully connected every time you walk by it!

Kristina Pentek, photographs (Shepard Patrick Hub 3)

The intention of Kristina Pentek’s work is to capture beautiful and otherworldly moments as they happen, often in unexpected places. As with any photographer, color and light are of a particular interest to her. She is fascinated with abstractions created by the natural world and juxtapositions where nature intersects with mankind, and looks for beauty in her day to day by paying attention to the details. Sometimes a simple change of perspective makes all the difference. She feels her purpose as a photographer is to present the viewer with scenes that are absolutely real but look otherworldly, painterly, fantastical or abstract. Nonetheless, her prints are the result of real scenes. Nothing is ever staged and none of her images are ever retouched or superimposed. The only alternations made are cropping and minor color corrections.

Tessa Holmes, mixed media photo collage (Breast Care Center & Healing Garden)

Tessa Holmes is a multidisciplinary artist who works primarily with oil paint, photography and food. Inspired most by the seasons and plants of Vermont she often employs bold color and thick textures in a post-impressionistic manner to create an exaggerated view of the natural world around her. Being a professional photographer, and always with her camera, she finds the world a constant source of glorious ready-made compositions to capture. Sometimes the photographs are beautiful enough on their own, but usually she prefers cutting up her prints to create new dreamscape collages or painting directly from the photographs using heavily applied paint to the canvas with only a pallet knife. She likes rich vibrant color and quick gratification. Details hold little appeal unless they are found by accident. Joy, beauty and nourishment are the goals.