Essence of Nature
Peter Nosikov

On View: December 1st, 2023 – December 29th, 2023

Opening Reception Friday, December 1st from 6-9PM

“Wood carving is a traditional folk decorative art, widespread throughout the world, and is an art form that transforms and brings life to wood”

Artisan Gallery is pleased to host the works of artist Peter Nosikov during the month of December. Since childhood, Peter has spent his time drawing and modeling. He attended the Higher Art Academy of Folk Crafts, specializing in wood carving. He opened a creative workshop called “TREEMASTER” and has participated in the International Wood Culture Society throughout the years. In 2021, Peter migrated to the United States, where he continues to implement creative ideas and create new projects including furniture with artistic carving. For all of his projects, Peter uses only chisels and knives, requiring a substantial amount of time – but the end result is worth the effort.

Artist Statement: Peter says that ideas are everywhere. Nature and the world are majestic – just to manage to have time to draw out and extract beauty from it!

Some may think that artwork can be easy. You simply imagine, draw, and just do it. But in reality, to create any work of art, patience, skill and desire are needed in order to make a truly worthy product.

In each work that he creates, Peter applies not only his skills, but also a piece of his soul, because, to Peter, products without a “soul” will not be complete and be truly art.

Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition

On View: November 3rd, 2023 – December 1st, 2023

Opening Reception Friday, November 3 from 6-9PM
Artist Reception & Awards at 5PM

The Broome County Arts Council invites members to participate in its Annual Members’ Juried Exhibition, on view November 3 through November 25, 2023 in BCAC’s Artisan Gallery and Art Path Gallery. The exhibition will be juried in categories of: sculpture, painting, photography, drawing, mixed media, and printmaking. Cash prizes will be awarded in all categories.

This year’s jurors include: Ms. Alisha Sickler Brunelli, Lecturer in the Department of Art and Design at Binghamton University along with Ms. Aubrey Clark and Ms. Eileen Seeley Schlag, local artists and exhibiting members of the Cooperative Gallery.

Entry in the annual members’ exhibition is one of the benefits of being a BCAC member. This year’s show features over 80 pieces created by our members. Thank you to all of our participating artists!

This exhibition is generously sponsored by Tad Cline, Connie Barnes, and Garufi Law Firm.

As a painter I have become accustomed to painting on a flat surface allowing myself to explore surfaces confined in a rectangle or square. In this series I continue to play with shapes and line to create interaction with color. Each painting starts with an automatic response to music, literature, and the events of the day, through gestured lines of paint until I have filled the canvas and created a linear web to accommodate my palette. Over time the work becomes a reflection as well as a journey. Often it depends on how I react to my environment, other times it is a direct response to the paint itself. Simply stated my work is about the experience of painting and the materials and influences of a painter’s life.

Bigness holds a BFA from Syracuse University and an MA in art history. Her work has been collected and exhibited throughout the United States and internationally. The most recent public acquisition is a large scale oil painting reflecting urban renewal and placed at the Rochester New York Regional Health Center.

Linda Bigness will be giving at Artist Talk at the Closing Reception for “Abstract Views of the Real” on October 26th @ 6PM at Artisan Gallery.

Artisan Gallery has the unique opportunity to showcase city scenes from two prolific local painters with two distinct artistic points of view: Armondo Dellasanta and Erin Waye. Both artists work from photographs with laborious attention to detail, bringing life and beauty to their subjects with colors that jump and pop. This collection exudes happiness and positivity, strength and beauty, intrigue and wonder.

Erin Waye (Binghamton NY) has painted over 10 scenes of the area she calls home, skillfully enhancing the essence and allure of her region. Last year, Channel 34 WBGH-TV News featured one of her Binghamton paintings on their TV show and Binghamton homepage website. She specializes in acrylic paintings on canvas and enjoys capturing various subject matter such as: cityscapes, landscapes, bridges, castles, people, and the surreal realm. Her inspiration is primarily from photographs. Her style has realism and illustrative qualities, boasting vibrant colors, intricate lines, nuanced shades, meaningful symbols, and captivating designs.

For Erin, a finished painting serves as a testament to the time, effort, passion, and boundless imagination poured into its creation.

Armondo Dellasanta: Regional Retrospective II

On View: 08/04/23 – 08/26/23
Opening First Friday, August 4th, from 6-9 PM

Known as the “Binghamton’s Van Gogh” and “urban Monet,” Armondo Dellasanta (1916 – 2010) was arguably the most renowned impressionist in Binghamton, NY. Though deeply influenced by French and American Impressionism and The Ashcan School, Dellasanta began to use customized palette knives to paint, giving his work a unique look and finish. He left behind a wide collection of work with wishes that it be exhibited, sold, and enjoyed by as many people as possible. BCAC is thankful for the opportunity to do just that with this special grouping of Del’s work, featuring scenes from Binghamton, Norwich/Oxford NY, Susquehanna County PA, and New York City.

Over the years, mainly collections of paintings have been displayed, but this show is unique by also including a vast collection of etchings. When he first began working as a custom framer, Del began experimenting with scrap pieces of plexiglass that were left over from the framing process. He scratched drawings into the surface of the plexiglass in what is known as a dry point etching technique. This process varied from his traditional painting style in the sheer amount of detailed line work he included in his renderings. Many of his etchings reflect the same subject matter he painted in oil, while others reflect more personal scenes.

Even when Del’s work was becoming more widely known and admired and the accolades started pouring in, he remained extremely modest about it. He said he made pictures that he felt were “just pretty good”, but he never boasted about it. And that gets right to the heart of who he was as a man. He was a kind, compassionate, caring person who loved his wife, his animals, and his art. We hope that all who view his art in this exhibit will find something to enjoy.

This exhibition is sponsored by Garufi Law P.C.

Textures By Hand: Fiber and Clay
Susan Szczotka

On View: 07/07/23 – 07/28/23
Opening First Friday, July 7th, from 6-9 PM

Susan Szczotka Bio:

I am a veterinarian by profession and a maker by nature. I graduated from the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University and worked in Endwell before opening my own feline exclusive practice, The Cat Doctor. I practiced veterinary medicine and surgery and multiple crafts for many years and since retirement in 2021, have devoted myself full-time to fine craft work. In addition to making copper, silver and enameled jewelry, I have worked in stained glass, fused glass and flameworking and became a potter over 20 years ago. I began my weaving career 13 years ago at the Rochester Folk Art Guild where I now teach the beginning weaving class at Craft Weekend. My current work includes horsehair raku pottery as well as functional ware, and handwoven wearables, fine linens and art wall pieces.

I live in the town of Maine with my six cats and lots of looms!

Artist Statement:

I consider myself a craftsperson, driven to use my hands to create beautiful work, both functional and decorative. I believe that fine craft is art. I am strongly influenced by the Arts and Craft movement as well as many types of ethnic designs from around the world. While mostly drawn to a natural color palette, I also enjoy a riot of brilliant colors. The tactile nature of craft, from moving clay with my hands to running hundreds of fine, soft thread between my fingers, is therapeutic and joyous, and creating a finished piece for others to enjoy is deeply satisfying.

Michael Celbar Retrospective

On View: 06/02/23 – 06/30/23
Opening First Friday, June 2nd, from 6-9 PM

Michael Celbar (1947-2016) was a gifted Binghamton artist of strong vision and originality who worked in a wide variety of mediums — photography, drawings, acrylics, printing techniques, computer art and more. He leaves behind an inspired legacy of hundreds of artworks that often express his deep vision of a dark, strikingly beautiful world. This work continues to sing and dance in his absence.

Artisan Gallery is pleased to present 180 pieces from this collection, created in various mediums including acrylic, oil pastel, silkscreen, posters, computer art, ink, photography, photo collages, mono print, cardboard collage, and large scale cardboard cut-outs.

Michael Celbar is an important and significant Binghamton artist whose artwork needs to be seen and celebrated, bringing the past forward to inspire artists of today.

Friend, muse, and executor of Michael Celbar’s estate Gabriel Bobek talks Michael’s faith, process, and involvement in a larger arts community in Binghamton. Michael Celbar: A Retrospective is on view at Artisan Gallery from June 2nd, 2023 – June 30th, 2023. Learn more about Michael Celbar’s life and work at michaelcelbarcollection.com. Purchase a piece by Michael Celbar on ShopArt. 

Outside Inside
Patrick McPhee & Jerry Russell

On View: 05/05/23  – 05/25/23
Opening First Friday, May 5th, from 6-9 PM

Patrick McPhee Biography:
Patrick McPhee seamlessly blends his love for the outdoors and fishing with his passion for painting. Much of Patrick’s childhood was spent exploring the natural world and camping with family. These experiences would go on to shape his artistic style and influence his work for the rest of his life. After studying at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Patrick became fascinated with the Hudson River School of painters, admiring their reverence for nature and the way they handled light. Patrick began to develop his own style, focusing on capturing the beauty of the natural world in a realistic manner. His works often feature scenes of mountains, rivers, lakes, and streams. Patrick is also an avid fisherman and often incorporates his love for fishing into his work.

Today, Patrick continues to paint, always striving to improve his craft and to share his love for art and nature with others. He is known for his meticulous attention to detail. He often returns areas to their former glory, removing buildings, parking lots, and powerlines. Each year he participates in plein air events around the country. He has received several awards for his efforts, his works can be found in private collections around the world.

Jerry Russell Biography:
Jerry Russell has been drawing and painting since he was a child. He grew up in Central New York and graduated from Syracuse University’s School of Visual and Performing Arts with a BFA in Illustration. In 1991, after several years of freelance work and art directing for a small advertising agency, he established Studio309 Creative Services, an illustration and design shop.

He also served as an adjunct professor of Graphic Design and Desktop Publishing at Onondaga Community College during this time. His professional work includes editorial illustration, traditional and digital illustration for books and advertising, digital 3D modeling, packaging & display design, and more. While much of this work has been created using traditional media, Russell also combines traditional and digital media to create his more complex pieces. Whenever possible, he carved out time to paint landscapes and still lifes with acrylics and watercolors in the studio.

Jerry started exploring plein air painting (painting outside, on site) in 2014, pursuing of a more immediate, reactive painting approach. Since retiring in the fall of 2022 Russell has been able to devote more time plein air, and works primarily in oils. His has received a number of awards for his work at juried shows and attends several regional plein air festivals each year.