ASK is pleased to present LongReach Arts: Elucidations. A group show from this longstanding (38 years) Hudson Valley artist collective.
Click on an image below to view the work. If you would like to purchase a work, email us at ask@askforarts.org
ASK is committed to supporting both the arts and our local artists even while our physical galleries cannot be open. If you are interested and able, consider donating to us so that we can fulfill this commit to community or becoming a member of ASK.
Arlene Becker
Much of our time is spent waiting for something or someone. These are of a few examples of when we wait.
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Diane Christi
My drawings are meant to be conceived not as interpretations, but created in the view point to liberate the lyricism from the fetter of reality.
I offer you my inner peace. The results in a spirit of tranquility and justice, attempting to act directly upon sensibility – and thereby on our minds by virtue of forms and colors alone. -Diane Christi, 2020
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David Curtis
Vehicle reflections separate, warp, yet can combine distinct structures into one vision. I achieve this effect by doing a kind of dance. My body becomes an instrument at one with the camera. Turning, bending and squatting at different heights and angles, I observe the reflections distort, twist and stretch through the view-finder until I see what I want and press the shutter. Depending on the light, shape, opacity, and texture of a vehicle’s surfaces, the reflections distort the external world along with the car’s interior, merging them into a diaphanous, illusory universe that contrasts and melds with the everyday.
Oftentimes the same object reflects different surfaces of the same vehicle simultaneously, creating a range of images. For example, a building reflected in a glass pane may represent the form true to its literal appearance, while a neighboring reflection on curved painted metal distorts that same structure into strangely organic and bizarre shapes. When the everyday — people, vehicles, houses, buildings — is glimpsed alongside, it seems to intrude on yet heighten the illusory realm.
In this way, a vehicle’s surfaces become sectional canvases: alternate, converging universes rounded in the same reality. The juxtaposed reflections become a metaphor of the interplay between our self-perception within the world we inhabit, and a world distorted by our subjective perceptions.
A photo-zine containing a selection of my Auto-Reflections may be previewed and purchased at
https://www.blurb.com/b/8902410-auto-reflections-metropolis
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Carolyn Edlund
1. I joined some other artists for a day of hiking in Catskill Park. As we came upon scenes made iconic by members of the Hudson River School (1825 to 1870) we compared their paintings (created between 1825 and 1870) with the contemporary views. I found that the subjects they chose to paint remain as compelling as ever, as evidenced by this painting, populated by a fellow hiker as he gazes to the distant horizon.
2. This beautiful Red Tail hawk was seated on the post vigilantly scanning for prey as I emerged from a wooded area. It sat there long enough for me to snap some photos for painting reference that provided sufficient detail to capture its essence in oil.
3. On a chilly winter afternoon this little sparrow chose to rest a moment warming itself as it sat on a branch just outside my window. It was a beautiful scene, branches arching, buds hinting that spring was near, a kiss of winter sun on feathers yielded this intimate portrait.
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Staats Fasoldt
It’s interesting to observe my own mind as I pick paintings for an exhibit. I want to show my newest work, the work I am most excited by, with the struggle to make it still fresh in my mind.
As I start to select I grow uncertain, my critical sense grows, I doubt my choice.
Is it good enough, is it finished, did I over do it? I recall past shows where the thought “I should show something new”, influenced me to show something that I convinced myself was ready and complete but later thought, was not ready at all.
Now I glance around my older work, things I’ve lived with awhile and think perhaps I should show these. Plus they are already framed which spares me the need and expense to frame new ones.
What a familiar dilemma, what should I do?
Did I mention I always liked small engine repair.
Perhaps I should try that.
Staats Fasoldt
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Stacie Flint
I paint for the joy of creation, to celebrate the spirit, to satisfy the eye, to engage in childlike imagination, to feel free, to use juicy color, to connect people, for the love of art, and I want to inspire others! House in the Woods, and Pasture Parade are painted from ordinary life subjects to express and communicate my passion as a healing vehicle.
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Caludia Gorman
A Communal Roost of Crows
During the colder months, just before dusk, a winter roost occurs in Poughkeepsie. It’s an awesome sight to see thousands of crows (as many as 10,000) from Dutchess and Ulster Counties and beyond gather near the Mid-Hudson Bridge. These clever animals socialize, hunker down for a night’s sleep, then come morning, they depart for daily excursions, but again return in groups at night.
Reasons are uncertain, but it seems communal roosts minimize the risk of predator attack at night and perhaps it helps the birds stay warmer in frigid weather. Some speculate that the younger and unskilled crows can learn social wisdom, defense efficacy and where to forage by day from the smarter birds. Possibly, it‘s an opportunity to find a mate. When spring arrives, the crows scatter far and wide to start families.
Photographing the magic and mysteries of the crows’ eccentric behavior is challenging since when they arrive, the sun is down, light is minimal, and its usually pretty chilly out, but it is always worth an attempt on my part. I have a passion for birds and do my best to find the crows and record this phenomena when I have the opportunity.
Check my website for more on this series www.claudiagorman.com
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Carol Loizides
My objective statement about this lake is in contrast to the piece itself, which is, somewhat unfocused, floral and lyrical. The lake itself is an insignificant part of the work. This is part of my Syracuse series. Skaneateles Lake: A Finger Lake in Onondaga County, Central New York. Skaneateles means long water in Onondagan, an Iroquoian language. The lake is sometimes referred to as “The Roof Garden of the Lakes” because its altitude of 863.27 ft, is the highest of the Finger Lakes. It is 17 mi long including the bogs at the south end of the lake and on average 0.75 mi wide, with a surface area of 13.6 sq. mi and a maximum depth of 315 ft. It is the source of drinking water for the City of Syracuse.
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Ellen Metzger O’Shea
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Carol Pepper-Cooper
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Marlene Wiedenbaum
Pastels by Marlene Wiedenbaum, PSA-MP
From the “Sacred Ground” Series
Notes while painting at Olana:
It was a warm gray day, not much contrast. Jane Bloodgood-Abrams and I went to see an exhibit of Hudson River artists at Cole’s Mansion. Works I’d never seen, affirming and inspiring. Then to Olana, where she took me on the paths, sharing favorite spots of hers. I felt like Alice, following the rabbit, deeply moved and in awe of what I was seeing. We both were, we both know that you can visit a landscape any day, any time and it would always be different, something new to embrace, to discover each time, and each turn of your head held another breath-taking image. I understood more about Jane that day, and
about Church and once again, my heart swelled with gratitude.
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Carole Wolf
Both of my Collagraphs, “Moving Energy” and “Fire Dance” were inspired by R. Carlos Nakai and his Native American flute, from the music of “Earth Spirit.” The circular shapes represent the continuous cycles of life, turning and turning, layer upon layer, with textural surfaces moving me forward on my spiritual journey.
“Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again.”
Joseph Campbell
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