Gardiner Cupcake Festival Serves up a smorgasbord of #GOSTdoors

GOSTdoors before they are installed
at the Gardiner Cupcake Festival

GOSTdoors At the Gardiner Cupcake Festival

The Gardiner Open Studio Tour comes only once each Spring to Gardiner NY. Since its second year of existence, it has always been preceded by the mysterious appearance of a fanciful and intriguing art installation made out of artist painted doors.

The first year they appeared, the GOSTdoors were scattered along the many roads and byways of the Hudson Valley towns of New Paltz and Gardiner. One day nothing, and the next day, they would just pop up all over the place. People were puzzled. What were these, what did they mean? "Hey look, another one of those funny doors...." The GOSTartists would go out all at once and put up all the doors in one single day of mad post pounding and screwdriving just to add to the fun and surprise.

A row of figurative GOSTdoors at the Gardiner Cupcake Festival. It was a great chance to see them up all together as a group. Most often the doors are spread all over the place and it's harder to see the diversity of approach than it is here.

Then a week or so later, the little hashtag signs went up: "#GOSTdoors". Then a week after that the big yellow banners went up announcing the Gardiner Open Studio Tour. This year, that's happening later than last year. Don't worry, you haven't missed the Tour. The Tour will be on June 3rd & 4th, 10am - 6pm both days.

This year there were twenty-five GOSTdoors at the Gardiner Cupcake Festival.

[TOUR HINT: Get out on the Tour early. Between 10am and 11am you'll have the artists all to yourself while everyone else is still luxuriating over a big breakfast at one of our sponsors like Cafe' Mio in Gardiner, or still in bed recovering from the night before and that delicious dinner they ate at The Mountain Brau Haus.]


But I digress -- the GOSTdoors. Well you might notice on the big yellow banners it says: "Go Behind the Doors." That's the artists' doors, the doors to the artists' studios. We are all opening our doors to you, the public, because we love to share what we do, and to share a little about how we do it and why.

Why do artists make art? Fair question, be sure to ask it if you want to on the Tour. How do we do it? What does it mean? What is your inspiration? No question is really out of bounds, and you may be astonished by the answer, or not, but we are offering you the opportunity to ask.

Is the artwork on the GOSTdoors representative of the various artists who did them? The answer is: "It depends." The idea behind the GOSTdoors was to allow the artists on the studio tour to create a visual representation of the diversity of their styles and approaches to artmaking. There are no rules for the GOSTdoors, no jury selecting them, and we leave them out in the rain and sun--not the usual place for paintings on wood.

Mostly the doors do not reflect the typical work of the artists on the tour. The artists who contributed #GOSTdoors were really just trying to share their playful enthusiasm for artmaking, not intending to "advertise" their particular style or demonstrate their ultimate skills. The GOSTdoors are just meant to be fun and whimsical and a bit of a tease, so that if you would like to learn more you should come out on the Gardiner Open Studio Tour and meet the artists of the tour for yourself.  Our doors are open....

We are on the radio just a few days before the Gardiner Open Studio Tour.

WKZE Radio Redhook interviews artist and chairman of the GOST

It was very exciting to do a radio interview this past week with radio host Will at WKZE Radio in Redhook NY. I'd actually never done a radio interview before and it was fun. It was definitely good to get the word out about the tour, which is this weekend.

The weather looks hopeful and the artists are all getting ready. So pick up a map and artist guide or download one from our website and go on tour!

If you want to learn more about the GOST and skip reading things, give a listen to this YouTube version of the radio interview with an accompanying slideshow of artists' work and shots of the #GOSTdoors.

Click here for the: WKZE Radio Interview and Slideshow for 2016 Gardiner Open Studio Tour

Signs of Spring: GOST 2016 - the banners are going up around town. Can the #GOSTdoors won't be far behind.

GOST sign at the NYS Thruway Exit in New Paltz, NY. Find our Artist Guide and Studio Tour Map Brochures in many local stores and online at www.GOSTartists.org.

Gardiner NY is the home of the #GOSTartists and #GOSTdoors. Join the tour at the end of this month. April 30 & May 1, 2016.

Look for the #GOSTdoors to be on display this weekend in Gardiner and around the area after that. The GOSTdoors are artist painted doors placed in and around the local landscape, and they stand weirdly in the absence of anything that needs a door to enter. But the GOSTdoors allow you to enter the world of art without having to go to the museum, or a gallery. They are meant to be playful and fun and inviting.

Then at the end of April, "Go Behind the Doors," by taking the Gardiner Open Studio Tour. It's a free self-guided art studio tour of the studios of 22 artists in Gardiner. Though the tour used to be twice a year, it's now only one time per year, in the Spring. So don't miss your only chance this year to see what's happening here in the art studios of the GOSTartists.

Gost Arts

GOSTartists Profile: Marcia Cole - Encaustics and Painting

18 SHOWS IN 18 MONTHS

By Chaya Lakhiani

Marcia has always been an artist, both teaching and working in a wide variety of media. She holds many accolades for her art teaching over the years including an Art Travelship Award to France where she painted in the footsteps of Cezanne. During the past 18 months she has established a studio at Woodrock Studios in Gardiner, N.Y. Since then she's been on a roll with a solo show and work in 18 shows in the Hudson Valley. Her work with encaustic monotype was published in the book Authentic Visual Voices, by Catherine Nash, and last year the Middletown Art Society recognized her Encaustic Monotypes with an Award Of Excellence. This will be her second year as a member of The Gardiner Open Studio Tour, and she is delighted to announce that she has also joined Roost Studios in New Paltz, New York, where she will have a solo show running through August and September of this year.

“Mainly, I just love paint, all kinds of it! I’ve taught nearly every process to students from 3 to 73. I love seeing it, using brushes, pouring and printing with it, dragging paper and cloth through it, additive and subtractive processes, and the brainwork of harnessing it to express a concept that’s important to me.”

Marcia tends to work in series, exploring each media deeply and pushing her materials to achieve the desired effects. Currently, she is working with encaustic paint and watercolor, often incorporating gold and silver leaf into her works as well.

CHANTS 

In this year’s GOST TOUR she is featuring her Chants series. These are distinctive in shape – some are in square format to be arranged - that is hung or stacked, according to the owner’s preference - and some are tall, narrow and intimate pieces. They are spiritually inspired celebrations of color and nuance that vibrate with their own sense of energy. The inspiration for this work came from Marcia’s own more spiritual explorations, and from the sound of a dear friend’s chanting. In reaction to the attention they have received, Marcia has made more Chants in sizes ranging from 24” to 48”. It is her desire to make these works varied and unique, so that they can lend their energy to any setting and any space.

VISITORS AND CHANT OWNERS SAY:

“The colors are earthy, yet they resonate with a deep saturation that is very beautiful to behold. They remind me of buried treasures. Layer upon layer of richly textured civilizations, one builds on the other, creating a rhythm that is meditative. – Marcy Bernstein of Roost Studios

Visitors to the studio have commented:

“The tiny, detailed effects of the paint and trails of molten wax and gold and silver leaf catch the eye, begging you to slow down and linger.”

“They seem to resonate and enrich the space or setting in a personal way over time.” “They are like music for the eyes”.

For more information about the artist:

Marcia Cole

Woodrock Studios

Gardiner, N.Y. 

Marciacoleart@gmail.com

www.Marciacoleart.com

Ulster Savings Bank showcases work of the #GOSTartists of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour.

GOSTartists kick off a series of events leading up to the Spring 2016 Gardiner Open Studio Tour at the end of April.

This event was the first of two group shows and openings for the GOSTartists this Spring as leadin's to the Spring 2016 GOST. The next show will be at The Bakery in New Paltz beginning April 15, 2016, with a Paint-Out/Opening tentatively planned for April 23rd. Stay tuned.

The Ulster Savings Bank Exhibition Opening was held this past Friday with many of the GOSTartists in attendance as well as other visitors, friends and bank customers. Ulster Savings  has been a long time GOST sponsor and supporter.

The show continues through May 12, 2016. Eighteen works are on display at the bank throughout the public spaces. Some highlights include a fabulous mural sized painting by Meadow, show below, which brings a dynamic sense of pizzazz to the otherwise drab bank conference room, an eye catching piece by Marilyn Perry that hangs behind the teller's counter, and wonderful print by internationally collected artist, Lady Pink, which is near the bank manager's desk.

As in all the prior shows, the diversity of the #GOSTartists group is easy to see in this show, but thanks to curation efforts by Lady Pink and Roger Smith, who hung the show, there is a sense of cohesiveness, and upbeat enthusiasm that the pieces all convey. The show's theme of "Creation" seems to have been taken to mean both the creation of art work and and "creation" as in, all the wild and wondrous energy of the world, which this selection of pieces seems to be channelling.

The show is open to the public during bank hours. Art is available for purchase. Simply contact the artist of your choice--their contact information is available in the Show Bio Book on the table in the Bank Conference Room, or you can also find contact information for individual artists on the group's website: www.GOSTartists.org.

Many thanks to Jared Cole and the staff of the Ulster Savings Bank for hosting the opening and supporting the GOSTartists and the Tour.

Finally, don't miss the upcoming Gardiner Open Studio Tour, Apr. 30 & May 1, 2016. More info on the website, or pickup a brochure at Ulster Savings and many other area locations.

JP

Meadow with her spectacular wall hanging at the show, Holland Tulips, Acrylic on canvas, 60” x 71”,  $2000

Left:  Abstract sunset by Andrea McFarland, Purple Sunset, Pastels, 16” x 20”, $700
Right: Jean Tansey, Aurora Borealis #1, Acrylic on wood, 24” x 32”, $125

DM Weil's work in the entry hallway. Coral Reef, Enhanced giclee print, 24” x 30”, $425

Stacie Flint with her very upbeat painting, Blooms, Oil on canvas, 24” x 30”, NFS

Lady Pink with her woman shaped cityscape, a print of a much larger original oil painting,
Queen Matilda, Giclee print on canvas, 36” x 24”, $450

Jonathan Pazer with his composite sunset photograph, which includes cloth for clouds and a phillips head screw for the sun.
"You never said you would return, that’s my fantasy", Chromaluxe print on aluminum, 24” x 36”,  $500.

Marilyn Perry with her piece, Lava, Acrylic on paper, 31” x 37.5”, $650

From Left to Right: Jared Cole--Ulster Savings Bank, GOSTArtists--Alexa Ginsburg,
Marilyn Perry, Meadow, Stacie Flint, Leonie Lacouette and Jonathan Pazer.

When you are a muralist, it takes a village!

Muralists always need something to paint on.

The #GOSTartists were drawn together by a desire to express ourselves in our community. When we got started thinking about the diverse array of talented and creative folks who lived unobtrusively here among us, we began to realize that there really were a lot of artists here in Gardiner. Wouldnt it be great if we could just draw them out. We first began meeting in 2012 and considering what we could do to promote the arts in our town. Back then, before the first tour, before the first #GOSTdoors were painted and displayed, before our first group show, we had no inkling of our future impact.

Over the years our efforts have been embraced by many residents in the village and throughout our area. This is particularly noticeable in that there are now four large murals painted by members of the GOSTartists right in Gardiner, NY.

The murals mentioned in the attached article from the Gardiner Gazette were painted by Lady Pink, and Annie O'Neill in the Spring of 2015, and they are on Arch Street opposite Pasquales Pizza in the very center of town.

Mural by Stacie Flint, Gardiner, NY Fall 2015

Stacie Flint's mural in Gardiner was not mentioned in this article from last summer because it had not yet been painted, early Fall of 2015. It was painted in anticipation of the Fall 2015 GOST on the side of a tool shed facing Main Street  (Rte. 44-55) a few streets North of Arch Street. All three of these works are quite different in style and in expression and yet they all convey a fresh and lively feel which is adding pizzaz to our town as it develops and grows more art and visitor friendly.

More recently another mural was painted at the Gardiner Recycling Center at the very end of Steve's Lane, by Roger Smith, another member of the GOSTartists.

These works are a direct result of the work of members of the GOSTartists to engage the community and put art out in the world. That is a very important part of the mission of the Gardiner Open Studio Tour. To bring people to art and to bring art to people.

Which is also why the #GOSTdoors will be back in town this year. Keep an eye out. Lady Pink Queen of Doors is working hard to see that we have lots of new doors this year to share with one and all.

EDITOR'S NOTE:  In the Gardiner Gazette Article, it is mentioned that The Gardiner Open Studio Tour is held each Spring and Fall. While that was correct at the time of the writing of the article, it is no longer the case. There will only be one Open Studio event each year, so don't miss it. The GOST will be held each Spring on the First Weekend in May. However, the GOSTartists will be doing other things throughout the year.

JP

www.GOSTartists.org


[Thanks to the Gardiner Gazette for permission to reprint their articles.]

ARTIST PROFILE: Meadow - Mixed-media, multi-talented, Meadow is nothing if not a bold and fearless art-maker, teacher, and charmer.

Wild flowers of ideas, bees buzzing among them make the honey of art.

Yes, 'Meadow' is the only name she has ever given me. I must say it seems fitting because she has always reminded me of a meadow in bloom, filled with ideas and energy made of wild flowers and the bees that buzz among them. Meadow has been a community oriented artist and arts organizer all of her life, from teaching at a college level in several disciplines, to running an artist loft community in NYC and lots else in between. Like many members of the #GOSTartists she has added her experience and enthusiasm for bringing art out of the studio and into the world through her participation with the #GOSTdoors, numerous other group exhibitions put on by the Gardiner Open Studio Tour, and by running an Artist Salon at the Pine Bush Library for several years. The Salon has provided a forum for the community to meet with area artists and hear about their work, their medium and what makes being an artist so interesting both for the artist and for the art appreciating public. -- JP

Keeping Up With Meadow!

By: Mike Bingham

Lucille from Meadow's Boid series.

It’s my privilege to provide a brief GOST artist narrative for Meadow, as a representative of Kiss My Face (a GOST sponsor), sharing what I’ve come to know of Meadow’s artistic history & prowess as a tenant of 3 1/2 years at her Woodrock Studios complex.

.....Mike Bingham

Meadow is one of those unique artists who is always great at any art media she touches! Which is a good thing since, as a mixed-media artist, she switches gears often! She is frequently found working on multiple two-dimensional and three-dimensional projects at the same time. Claiming to get bored or stale if she stays with one medium to long, she relishes in the challenge of something new. She says, “It keeps me excited and my blood flowing... I love the angst of a blank slate.”

Meadow usually produces her art in a series. She’ll work a particular idea through within one medium, constructing anywhere from 6-20 pieces before she feels like she’s producing a product or just repeating herself. For Meadow, switching mediums or being asked to participate in a new themed show is like stepping up to the batter’s plate... “You never know what will come at you or what the results will be!”

Meadow does sometimes return to explore past series to create a new work. However, the new work always has a little different slant and tone... be that an updated version, or an extension of the precious thematic work. Clay is a medium within which Meadow has worked for almost 60 years. Her work ranges significantly from eight-foot sculptures to two inch “Little Littles” and everything in between. She always seems to return to it as she finds it to be very grounding and forgiving... “You can make almost anything with clay.”

A recent revival from the past is her production of two large Wood Spirit Series installations for the Samuel Dorsky Museum “Hudson Valley Artist’s Show.” For this artistic endeavor, Meadow used the wood from a black walnut tree she had to take down, as it was too close to her house. She was able to use up most of the tiny limbs, small branches and logs that would normally just become firewood. In her reincarnation of the tree, she was honoring her passionate feelings and connection to trees... and particularly that tree that has graced the grounds of Woodrock for over 25 years.

Meadow has lots of “next batter-up artistic activities planned and underway. First up will be using her Boid Series to create a painted door, that will be displayed in Gardiner, as part of the live-advertising for the upcoming Gardiner Open Studio Tour, (GOST)... followed by new pieces from her Heritage Ceramics Series, also for the GOST event coming up at the end of April.

And right after that, she’ll be installing a large piece from the Written Word Series for the Hebrew Museum, as a featured artist in their new exhibition “Numbers”. In between all this she is mounting a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to self-publish the children’s books she has been writing for years. There seems to be no end to the creative ability and stamina that Meadow is able to sustain. It’s pretty amazing! You go Girl!!