Featured Artists Exhibit for August/September 2019

Featuring Katherine Armacost, Nikki Blair, Natalie Boorman, Marguerite Jay Gignoux, Linda Prager & Carol Retsch-Bogart

SHOW WILL RUN FROM AUGUST 6TH-OCTOBER 5TH
RECEPTION: FRIDAY, AUGUST 9TH, 6-8PM
MUSIC SALON: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH, 6-7PM
ARTIST TALK: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12TH, 6-8PM

The months of August and September will be a celebration of a diverse and extremely talented group of females artists entitled 6@FRANK. This exciting exhibit will showcase paintings by member artists and ceramicists Natalie Boorman and Linda Prager, guest ceramic artist Nikki Blair, mixed media work by member Carol Retsch-Bogart, paintings by Katherine Armacost and textile work by Marguerite Jay Gignoux.

Please join us on Friday, August 9th 6-8pm for the opening of “6 @ FRANK” the new exhibit for August/September. Live music by Red Nucleus! Refreshments will be provided. Event is free. As a special treat, on Sunday, September 8th, the group “Sail Away Ladies” made up of Linda Prager and her musical partners, Irene Felsman and Mitzi Quint will be putting on a musical salon from 6-7pm. The artist talk will be on Thursday, September 12th, from 6-8pm. We hope to see you all for one or all of these events!
Katherine Armacost’s oil paintings are inspired by the world around her, letting her imagination and her creativity take the lead, Katherine has a dialogue with her paintings that often end in a different way then they have begun. Having her work in private collections all over the world is a true testament to the universality of her incredible work.

Nikki Blair is currently an Associate Professor in Ceramics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her ceramic work is bold and graphic, often working with a slab technique in building her pieces, she creates large scale vessels that are functional and fantastical. In describing her aesthetic she says, “my work harks back to the shiny bright futurism of post WWII architecture and product design.” Nikki has had her work displayed in museums and galleries across the country.

Hand building her work through the pinch pot method, Natalie Boorman, forms clay as almost a meditative experience, taking each step of the process as a way to build a relationship with her vessels. Natalie then finishes her pots with burnishings, bisque firing, raku and pit firing. The added smokiness of the final product returns the story of the clay back to a new beautiful organic form.

Having a multitude of talents and media to her name, Marguerite Jay Gignoux, the current work of Marguerite (Peg) really showcases the creativity she has with textile and fiber art. Using the textures, shapes and colors from fabrics and paper to form the base of her work, through collage she then brings it all together with intricate hand stitching and weaving to create intensely beautiful and imaginative works.

While also being talented in many different arenas and artistic media, Linda Prager’s ceramic work will be highlighted in the August/September show. Handbuilding and working often with the slab technique, Linda is constantly inspired by the use of objects around her to create interesting and dynamic textures in her clay. The pieces she creates are both architectural and organic in form and design. Linda calls her pieces functional vessels, and she uses layers of colors and textures to enhance their shapes, and also to draw the viewers’ eyes into the surface.

Carol Retsch-Bogart is always challenging herself as an artist; Carol often uses textiles, encaustic medium, paper, and pigments to create her stunning mixed-media pieces.Instead of making the materials conform to her work, Carol works with the materials and makes them truly shine. Marrying originality and purpose, Carol’s finished pieces are always alluring and unique.