Bill's Broadsides

Art outing

My wife and I and the kids went to the Fulton County Art Show last night. Jen and I were both eager to go because we had missed it the last couple of years. (By the way, this Sunday, May 11, is the last day of the show -- you should go.)

Since I spent most of our visit scolding the boys ("Don't touch that!" and "No running near the ceramics!") , I didn't get to take everything in as fully as I'd have liked. I can say that I was most impressed by a few artists in particular:

- Jon Swartwout's rustic oil paintings of fish and other Adirondacky things, in their hand-carved twiggy frames, were attractive in a woodsy, masculine sort of way (not that there's anything wrong with that).

- William Mosher's watercolors (with ink?) were crisp, colorful, stunning and stylistically severe, the sort of paintings I'd want to take home and devote a room to, if I had a budget for that sort of thing (if I win the MegaMillions, he'll get a call from me).

- Featured Artist Dorothy Quick's watercolors of natural scenes were worth a visit to the show all by themselves. I noticed that my eye was drawn more to her paintings with people in them, sporting bright primary-colored sweaters among the earthy trees, mountains and streams, than he paintings that are devoid of human figures.

- Ina Kurz' gigantic painting of animals in paradise, whose title I forget (something like "My Happy Heaven," I think) is worthy of a mention for its asking price as well as its vast size. Let's just say one could have one's pick of many houses for sale in Fulton County and spend less (though the house might be smaller than this painting).

While we were browsing and chatting, I overheard one of the artists say to someone else (with a touch of well-meaning irony in her voice) that she likes showing work in the Fulton County Art Show, "because people actually come to look at it!"

I kick myself every time I let an opportunity such as this grassroots, local art event pass me by. I've been meaning for years to enter a couple of my own pieces (still-life photos and watercolor folk portraits; nothing too radical or high-concept, mind you). But I never seem to find the time to select and frame the stuff. My wife also has some paintings in progress -- she's been taking a class at Matt Roth's studio on Main Street in Johnstown -- so perhaps next year we'll both have some things on the wall over at the First Congregational.