Unexpected Perspectives showcases pastel landscapes by Kathleen Fleming, Charlotte and jewelry by Karla Van Vliet, Bristol

Art on Main announces its August-September 2008 Featured Artist Exhibit Unexpected Perspectives. The exhibit features pastel landscapes by Charlotte artist Kathleen Fleming and jewelry by Bristol artist Karla Van Vliet. The community is invited to meet the artists at a celebratory reception on Friday August 29 from 5-7pm in the Gallery at 25 Main Street, Bristol. Both artists will be on hand and light refreshments will be served.


Attracted by color and light in the landscape, Kathleen Fleming often chooses unusual composition shapes which echo the long horizons or towering clouds of her subjects. "The shadow on a row of trees as evening approaches, the shimmering light on the grasses in a spring field, the reflections on a stream, these are the elements that draw me in," Kathleen says. "The fun begins in taking the simple scene and using color and value to create something different, yet reminiscent of the original." Kathleen uses vibrant pastels to create loose, expressive pieces with playful and exaggerated colors. Pastels are pure powdered pigment rolled into round or square sticks and held together with a binder; the sticks are held in the hand to draw--an often messy process. "I love getting my hands dirty and being directly connected to the painting." When the paper or canvas is fully covered in pastel, as is true for Kathleen's work, the finished piece is considered a pastel painting. Having lived in Vermont for nearly all of her adult life, Kathleen says, "I am continually inspired and excited by the land around me."


Seventh-generation Vermonter Karla Van Vliet is also inspired by her environment in her creations--whether poetry, painting, or jewelry. "As I explore these different genres," she says, "I realize time after time how each informs the other. That as I choose color and pattern in making a necklace I am sharpening the tool I use for choosing words and patterns in a poem. As I lay down images in a painting I am using the tool for which in poetry I place images on the page within a poem." All of Karla's jewelry--necklaces and earrings are on display in the current exhibit--is hand-wrapped using 24 gauge sterling silver wire to create links or ear-wires and a wide selection of semi-precious stone beads. Most necklaces also include an assymetrically placed decorative sterling bead, a unique structural statement which adds to each piece's particular blend of form and color.
The exhibit will be on view in the Gallery through Tuesday September 30th. Art on Main is open Monday thru Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday noon-4pm.
For more information, contact Carolyn Ashby, Gallery Manager
at (802) 453-4032 or info@artonmain.net.