Author: Darice Pauselius

Born in the District of Columbia, Sharon Cosgrove is an award-winning artist based in Wilkes-Barre, PA. Her private studio and gallery in a restored Gothic Revival townhouse, is located in the River Street National Historic District. She holds a BFA, MA, and MFA from the University of New Mexico and a BA from Shepherd University. Her paintings and prints have been exhibited in invitational, solo, and juried exhibitions, nationally and internationally and can be found in both public and private collections, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art (with signatures Bowar and Cosgrove). Serving in an “ambassadorial” role for cross-cultural exchange, Sharon’s work has been selected for the Art in Embassies Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and was displayed at the U.S. Embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan. As part of this program, she also traveled to Kazakhstan to offer presentations and master classes in conjunction with women’s history month.

Sharon is the recipient of the Medici Award in Painting from the International Biennale Exhibition of Contemporary Art, in Florence, Italy, and has been Visiting Artist at the Brandywine Workshop in Philadelphia, the former International Center for the Arts in Umbria Italy, American Academy in Rome, Burren College of Art in Ireland, and Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in Nova Scotia, Canada. By student nomination, Sharon received the Non-Traditional and Innovative Teaching Award at Wilkes University where she serves as professor of art, and artist-in-residence. Additionally, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, community scholarships, faculty development grants and sabbaticals have helped support her studio practice and commitment to teaching. Sharon has taught in Florence, Italy and facilitated group painting and mural projects with international artists, students, and victims of domestic violence. Her work has been the catalyst for personal, professional, and community transformations.

Source: SharonCosgrove.com

Jane Voorhees was born in 1951 and grew up in the New York metropolitan area. She studied at Eastern Michigan University, The School of Visual Arts and received a B.A. from Livingston College at Rutgers University. Her supplemental education was in the form of an apprenticeship to jeweler Paul Gollhardt, enameling with Bill Helwig, and jewelry workshops with Chuck Evans, Rick Marshall, Marci Zelmanoff and Mary Ann Scheer. She studied painting at the Montclair Art Museum and had five years of pastel portraiture at the Yard School of Art under Margaret Yard Tyler.

From 1975-1977 she ran the wax production and setup room for the jewelry casting firm of Century Casting in New York City. She has been producing her own line of jewelry from 1975 till the present. In 1990 she pursued her long admiration for rustic motifs and began making furniture, frames and accessories. She continues to paint in pastels and add to her jewelry line.

Source: JaneVoorhees.com

Contributing writer for Ridge View Echo, Chip O’Chang, recently featured our Annual Plein Air Exhibit and Silent Auction.

‘En Plein Air’ Painting Tradition Continues with Delaware Water Gap Artists

Wander through the town of Delaware Water Gap, PA this week, or through the nearly 70,000 acres of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and you might stumble upon a sight out of a story book: a lone painter outside, capturing nature on her canvas in the open air.

The practice of starting and finishing paintings entirely outdoors, with no retreat to an indoor studio, is called painting en plein air– French for “in the open air.” A centuries-old practice, it became the signature method of French impressionists like Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

Now, the Antoine Dutot Museum in the town of Delaware Water Gap is celebrating the resurgence of this art form with its Eighth Annual Plein Air Exhibit and Silent Auction.

While other en plein air events require an application or even an exclusive invitation, any artist can participate in the Dutot Museum’s paint out. Artists have between now and July 25th to complete up to four paintings done entirely en plein air, depicting anything in town or in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Read the full article →

Join Us!

You’re invited to join us for Annual Plein Air Exhibit and Silent Auction, Saturday, July 29 from 1:00-4:00pm. Artwork will also be available on Sunday, July 30.

July 7 – July 23
Teachers and Students: A Dialogue
Work by Jim Gloria and his students
Christine Wilson and Jackie Campisi
Opening Reception: Friday, July 7 from 7-9pm

After finishing his BFA in Scenic and Costume design for theater at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, James continued work as an apprentice designer and painter. In 1989 he started his own decorative arts business, painting murals and faux finishes throughout the East Coast of the U.S.

A desire to extend his arts education led James to fresco classes at Parsons School of Design, and to a workshop in Italy to study the 16th c. technique of Scagliola. The obscurity of this lost art inspired him to return to Venice in 2002 for further study, and to begin documenting and teaching the technique along with mural and faux finishes. It also sparked an interest in other plaster techniques along with Scagliola. James has published articles on venetian plaster and fresco.

To learn more: JamesGloria.com →

June 16 – July 2
A Tribute to Ed Lopez, Curated by Penny Ross
Opening Reception: Friday, June 16 from 7-9pm

Our second show this season will be a show of the work of Ed Lopez.

We were very happy when we approached Ed last summer to invite him to show this season and he readily agreed. So it is with great sadness that I have to share with those who may not know that Ed passed away in January after a brief illness.

We have decided to proceed with a tribute show that will be curated by, and feature the work in the collection of Penny Ross. Penny has been a close friend of Ed’s for over 45 years and an avid collector of his work since she bought her first piece in the 1970s.

Ed Lopez epitomized the ideal of the artist unbent by commercial pressure. He left a lucrative career as a graphic designer in NYC to pursue art full time, living out of his van for one 10 year stretch; in Florida in the winter and in the Poconos in the summer.

He is well known for unfolding brown paper grocery bags and painting on those. But don’t be fooled by those modest means. Ed was a sure-handed draftsman of the first rank and a bold and decisive colorist, one of the finest artists to ever work in the Poconos.

He will be missed, and we are honored to be showing his work.