OCEAN CITY, MD —Jan. 31, 2022 — The Art League of Ocean City’s First Friday party on Feb. 4 celebrates nature and emotions in four new art exhibits opening at the Ocean City Center for the Arts, 94th St. bayside. All are welcome to the free event that runs from 5-7 p.m.
Reception hors d’oeuvres will be presented by Touch of Italy. PKS Investments will sponsor the reception beverages. Masks are required for entry to the Arts Center.
The Thaler Gallery opens “Sourced from Nature,” a group show featuring four artists working in unique media but each inspired by nature. Showing are Betsy Hall Harrison, Robert Johnson, Carol Lehmann, and Robert Bruce Weston.
Betsy Hall Harrison of Ocean City, Md. concentrates her work in batik on silk, an ancient artform from Java and Bali, inspired by natural objects, wildlife, landscapes, and seascapes. Born in Baltimore, she trained at the Maryland Institute of Art and The Instituto Allende in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, and received her degree from Boise State University.
Robert Johnson of Salisbury, Md. is the Pottery Studio Manager at the Ocean City Center for the Arts. He also runs Amused Studios with his wife, is the current acting president of the Clay Guild of the Eastern Shore, and was formerly the head 3D technician at Salisbury University. Johnson’s clay creations are inspired by classic shapes, and many look as if they could be excavated from an archeological dig.
Carol Lehmann recently relocated to Felton, De. from Montana. She works in mixed media, combining encaustic and collage, and also creates unique copper enameled jewelry. Largely self-taught, she believes art transforms, connects, and empowers her to explore different techniques without reserve.
Robert Bruce Weston is a master cabinetmaker who retired to Milton, De. to pursue his love of art. During 40 years of on-the-job training working with many famous architects in the New York City region, he absorbed much from their compositional abilities and design expertise. In retirement, he has settled into making paintings using his preferred medium of wood veneer marquetry.
The Galleria will feature an exhibit entitled “Exhibiting Emotion,” an all-media group show inspired by emotions: joy, love, surprise, sadness, serenity, confidence, anger, uncertainty, and others. Susan Holt of Salisbury, Md., gallery director and instructor of art at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, will judge the exhibit and award cash prizes.
Golie Miamee of McLean, Va. exhibits in Studio E in February. A born traveler who loves to photograph and capture her journeys, she uses a photograph as her canvas and digital editing as her main medium. She see every photograph as an image that can come to life and hopes her viewers share the same bliss and enjoyment.
Ellie Scott of Berlin, Md. is the Spotlight Gallery artist for February. A graduate of Syracuse University School of Art, her paintings are inspired by her world travels and local landscapes. Her “Maryland Steamed Crabs” watercolor was shown in the State House in Annapolis as part of an Eastern Shore exhibit. She is also a docent at the historic Rackliffe House.
Linda Daniels Cermak of Silver Spring, Md. is the Art Center’s artisan for February. Inspiration for her paintings and mixed media jewelry comes from local landmarks, flowers, and nature. Her collage work incorporates a variety of mulberry and rice papers to a watercolor or acrylic painting, drawing the viewer into a new and different experience than traditional watercolor.
The February shows at the Arts Center run through Feb. 26.
The Art League’s satellite galleries continue shows with exhibits by C.K. Rompf of Chincoteague, Va. at the Coffee Beanery on 94th St. and Coastal Hwy., and Petra Bernstein of Salisbury, Md. at the Princess Royale Oceanfront Hotel lobby, 9100 Coastal Hwy.
More information is available at www.ArtLeagueofOceanCity.org or by calling 410-524-9433.
The Art League of Ocean City is a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the visual arts to the community through education, exhibits, scholarship, programs and community art projects. Funding for this event is in part provided by the Worcester County Arts Council, Maryland State Arts Council and the National Endowment of the Arts, organizations dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive.
