A Method to the Madness by Debra Rene Harder

Debra Rene Harder, the Featured Photographer for July, 2016, is an exceptionally skilled local photographer who will be showing a selection of her recent work, “A Method to The Madness” at the Photographer’s Gallery in the Ashland Art Center.

Debra enjoys traditional photography, but her true passion is creating ‘story-telling’ images; hence a window into her imagination.  The prints displayed this month at the Ashland Art Center, not only show her unique perspective, but also reflect the years spent refining her technique.

 The print ‘My World’ depicts Debra’s dream sanctuary created as a composite using various landscapes captured in the Glencoe, Scotland region.  Additionally, two studio portrait prints, ‘Keeping Time’ and ‘Vegan Dining in Style,’ will be shown. These are character driven and convey a curious mood with a bit of humor.

Upstairs Featured Artists – Zoe West and Susanne Petermann

Zoe West

Zoe West works in a variety of mediums, her favorite being acrylic on canvas. She also engages in encaustic, pen and ink, collage and  plaster. For this display she presenst one encaustic painting and seven papier mache  masks. It is said that  ‘Variety is the spice of life,” so who am I to deny life the pleasure of my varied artistic pursuits?

Susanne Petermann

The Sky Series, Collages by Susanne Petermann

An ever-evolving combination of play and serious inward exploration, Susanne’s newest collages place the infinite and infinitely changing sky inside Stone, Trees, and other elements.

Please visit Zoe and Susanne upstairs in Studio #6.

Downstairs Featured Artist, Lisa Eldredge presents her work in progress, The Woodlands

Lisa draws heavily from her outings into the woods, to inspire her ceramic design elements. She incorporate snatural colors, shapes, and textures to create works that make her feel connected to nature. “The Woodlands” is the most literal of her works to date. This project  represents her musings on the physical and social relationships between people and wild animals, that take place where urban areas and woodlands interface.  Visit her in her downstairs studio.

Gallery Featured Artists – Hannah Brehmer and Leah Mebane

Hannah Brehmer

For fifty years Hannah has been creating with clay.   Her work has evolved over time from glazed, functional ware for food and flowers,  to decorative unglazed vessels which have been burnished several times with a small stone, then fumed with chemicals in a pit or a container called a saggar.   She is attracted to classic, enduring shapes that create a smooth canvas for the flames to create their magic.   Many of her vessels have been used as urns for the ashes of animals or other loved ones.

 Leah Mebane

Leah Fanning Mebane creates what she calls “Earth Art”, by making hand-made, earth-based, oil paints in the style of the Old Masters and finding inspiration from the deep woods of Southern Oregon. 

 The images that flow out of her paint brush are very organic and echo the shapes, patterns, textures and colors she experiences in nature. Her work is filled with many natural textures (created from nature-based elements), layers and vibrant earth colors. She creates art from a space in the present moment with no plans for a final outcome but an open-ness to the mystery of the journey. Her work has been featured in over a dozen international and national publications and has been exhibited in galleries throughout the States.

• Friday, July 1, 5:00 – 8:00 pm

• As always, visitors will find galleries, open studios, art, and artists on all three floors of the Art Center.

• There will also be refreshments and live music

Live Music by  Accapellaré

Accapellaré is a local Ashland duo combining the spectacular voices of Jeffri Lynn Carrington and Zoé Laterreur. Be captivated by pure, rich harmonies and the beauty of two women who have dedicated their lives to the art of singing. Renaissance and Baroque music, Celtic songs, and Opera duets make up their repertoire.