2021 REBIRTH MEMBERS SALON
January 10, 2021 – February 19, 2021
VIRTUAL EXHIBIT
The Rebirth Members Salon begins our new year of 2021 with artwork showing moments of new beginnings. From the sun rising across the ocean in the morning to a baby’s smile as it awakens, these moments offer hope and joy and the promise of the future. This salon will spotlight these special moments through the talent of our member artists. The Rebirth Members Salon will touch our hearts as well as be a positive way to kick off the new year.
The Rebirth Members Salon is a virtual show online.
A slide show version is below.
A video version can be found HERE on YouTube.
VIRTUAL EXHIBIT
The Rebirth Members Salon begins our new year of 2021 with artwork showing moments of new beginnings. From the sun rising across the ocean in the morning to a baby’s smile as it awakens, these moments offer hope and joy and the promise of the future. This salon will spotlight these special moments through the talent of our member artists. The Rebirth Members Salon will touch our hearts as well as be a positive way to kick off the new year.
The Rebirth Members Salon is a virtual show online.
A slide show version is below.
A video version can be found HERE on YouTube.
ARTIST STATEMENTS
MATT ABERLE
"Resting Now"
"Anchor yourself firmly, the night is coming and I will not see you again till dawn."
"The First Time I Saw You"
"I was lost all day, I searched for you but could not find you. Night was falling. At last, I turned and you were there....my sunset ."
JIM ABERLE
"As We Gather Together"
I always love when people gather...in good times and bad...we help and support each other...making us all a bit stronger for it...this photo of a relaxing day at the beach in the past is also one of the future...where again we will enjoy each others company...together.
LISA BAGWELL
I work with trash, intercepted from its route to the landfill or picked off the beach. The "Goldfish" was made from the many orange pill bottles I was given from a friend, hard plastic six pack holders from Carton Brewing (from another friend) and dunkin' straws. Made sense to make a goldfish from all that orange! "Wood Duck" was made from the top foil you find on a bottle of wine pulled off in one piece (saved for me from yet another friend). "Beach Trash Collage" is made from items I collect on my weekly beach cleanups at Sandy Hook. I seek inspiration from nature and work to create subjects that properly use the materials I have. Collages are the most meditative to create much like the collecting of the materials is.
MARILYN BALDI
"Encouragement" is a statue in the middle of a temple "plaza" at the Crescent Moon Lake Oasis in Dunhuang, China. The gardeners of the carefully manicured plants have kept the growth at a minimum except for the one stalk which stretches towards the hand of the goddess. She seems to encourage its growth.
"Solid Marriage" is of rock formations in the desert regions of Namibia. The two taller outcroppings remind me of a woman in a long wedding gown with the groom at her side. The tree at the base represents the off spring which has managed to survive the harsh environment.
"Urban Growth" documents the taking down of older buildings in Asbury Park, New Jersey to make way for the rebirth of the city with new designs. The orange tops on the metal construction rods remind me of flowers, promising a newer, brighter beginning.
JAMES CARLSON
"Morning-Spring Lake"
I am attempting to do larger canvases that express what I feel in front of the subject.
MARY DEL NEGRO
"New Puppy on the Beach"
My son Anthony came home in early December with a new puppy named Ruby. We introduced her to the sand on December 13th. At first it took some getting used to having a puppy in our home but we have grown to love her. I will miss them when they leave in January.
DENISE DIPACE
"Beauty after the Blizzard 1, 2, and 3"
Monochromatic winter scenes are among my favorite subjects to photograph. Blizzards are brutal, but the NEW DAY is bright with beautiful blankets of glistening snow.
PATTI KAUFMAN
"Percephone" "Discovering" "Hours of Dawn"
During these difficult times I helped lift my spirits by painting these three pieces. My hope is each will help manifest the same for others.
SHEILA KRAMER
"Dandelion Wishes (Tara Taraxacum)"
My intention was to make something that would be evocative of the wishes and dreams I had for our children's futures as a young parent. Blowing on the dandelion puff, is like sending those wishes off into the future. Looking back, I see the evolution of their personalities as an ongoing Rebirth year by year. I made the dandelion puff from 200 frayed silk organza fabric pieces glued to thin wire and nestled into a pom-pom made of yarn.
STAN KRAMER
"Red Barn Museum"
There is nothing as traditional or American as a red barn. But to see it reborn as a modern museum was truly inspiring. And the view of it from across a country pond made it an irresistible subject to capture in watercolor.
LOUISE KRASNIEWICZ
"The Crabbe Family" "The Moss Family" "The Schell Family"
In the middle of the 19th century, Cabinet Cards (4x6 photos mounted on cardboard) were a popular form of documenting families. Millions of these photos still exist but they are severed from their context: we rarely know the names of the people in the photo. Instead of viewing the millions of these images that are still in existence as sacred objects that cannot be touched, my project rebirths them as images of new families who draw their identity from the natural materials now attached to them. The new names of these families are like traditional names which were derived from the labor a family was associated with. All the works are mixed media and are part of a larger project giving new identities to Cabinet Card subjects.
LINDA LITTMAN
Nature’s persistence, perseverance, resilience, and rebirth inspires me. For as long as I can remember, I have loved trees. I have photographed them all over the world. I am simply drawn to all of them, not just trees with beautiful foliage, but to trees in their decline, those that are bare-branched and stand awesome and bold against a white snow winter sky. Now as I sit at my writing desk, I see the huge skeletal oaks in my backyard and in my garden, I see my leafless fig trees.
The first piece, “Standing Still,” represents the intersection between my interests in photographing tree and my work in clay. A charger plate at my Birthday dinner June 2019 with a leafless tree drawn simply in black on a white background became the inspiration for a series of plates, bowl, cups, and trays. In retrospect, I realize that the tree on the charger is a representation and rebirth of my much-love backyard trees. In this piece, the tree was carved, etched into the under-glazed clay before the bisque firing and clear glazed was applied by brush for the final firing.
The second piece, “In Flower Forever,” emerged in gratitude for re-flowering of my miniature Meyer lemon tree. I repeated the process used for the first piece. The center flower was hand-painted and waxed before the rest of the bowl was glazed. The third piece, “New Day, Put on a Tie” is the essence of rebirth. The clay decided what it wanted to be. As a small a pitcher, its lip was too thin and wet, and it split. In its splitting, something new emerged. I saw a shirt collar and I added a tie. The pitcher lived again and smiled. For final glazing, the shirt and the tie areas were hand- painted and waxed before the remainder of the pitcher was glazed.
K. DORSEY LUCAS
The metaphor for my clay piece, “New Dawn”, is really straight forward....new day, new light, fresh beginnings. Anyone who has seen a sunrise usually feels a spark of hope and optimism.
STEVEN MEKO
"Rise and Shine"
I've always enjoyed watching the squirrels in my backyard. They are endlessly entertaining, and at times when there isn't much to smile about, they always bring a smile to my face. They are easily bribed by peanuts, so when my wife or I open our back door - they are always there to greet us. This little guy was one of a litter of four born earlier in the year. I opened the door - camera in hand - and he peeked out of a hole in the tree to greet me with a smile. Brightens up my day every time.
PATRICIA MEKO
"Iris"I painted this in my backyard during Covid Lockdown this past spring. It reminds me that even after a long, difficult winter, spring always arrives and the garden renews.
LAURIE NEYHART
"Nature's Womb" "Ethereal Dawn" "Life's Promise"The limitless beauty and resilience of our natural world holds an abundance of information and profound importance for humankind renewal.
EILEEN PETRUCH
"Wild Horses"This was an experimentation with painting over a panel covered in gold leaf. The sun is the only area left uncovered gold leaf. It was fun experiencing the gradient changes to the paint when painting over the gold leaf to create the depths and lights of the ocean. This is a mixed media piece with gold leaf, acrylics and oil paints. Also unusual is the light coming from behind the subjects as they race out of the waves onto the shore.
ANTHONY RUSSO
"Sun Setting"The sun has always been an inspiration for me whether it is a sunrise or sunset. This painting is sunset with the black silhouette of trees. I love with oil paint because of the vibrant color palettes. There is also a beautiful gold frame that is included with this painting. This is a great gift.
MARY SAVAGE
"From Patience, Peace"Oysters have many symbolic meanings; success, happiness, joy. The pearl itself can be a symbol of peace and patience; that out of an irritating circumstance...sand invading the soft flesh of the oyster, something beautiful is created. A pearl can also be associated with calm, strength and protection. All things we need now more than ever.
As we begin to see the light at the end of this very long tunnel, we hope to have learned something from our suffering. We hope there are brighter days ahead, filled with peace, fortune, joy and happiness. I reworked this painting several times, and I think at the end, what I was searching for was a feeling of calm and tranquility that we are collectively searching for in life . The bright colors I began with gradually transformed into deeper, softer hues. The iridescent quality that shows itself in parts of the painting reminds me of the silver lining that exists (it must!) for all of us as we look toward a brighter and more peaceful future.
KRISTOPHER SCHOENLEBER
"Burning Off" "Golden Valley" "Sun City"
I'm an award winning photojournalist, with 18 years in television news and 12 years in still photography. I specialize in landscape and nature fine art photography. My work has been featured in numerous art exhibits, and several publications. Born and raised at the Jersey shore, I love to travel and explore the world around me.
The pieces I submitted to the Rebirth show are all of sunrises from various locations. I truly love capturing day break, but I can't stand getting up and out the door at such an early hour. All the misery of barely sleeping and heading out into the dark washes away when the colors of a new day start to appear. Every morning brings a fresh start, and usually perfect lighting, colors and shadows to make a new photo memory.
ALYCIA TORRES
"Rising"I use a mixture of acrylic paints and old magazines to create collages that embody the power of women. I share my work with individuals of all ages and ask them to describe how they feel as they absorb it. I presented this collage to a 7-year-old girl, curious to see what resonated with her. After observing the piece for quite a bit, she looked up at me and said, "Liberty. Women are rising. The fires within our souls are igniting. Rebirth is happening.
JOHN TROISI
"Chair 4" was painted from a photo that a friend had taken and captures the quiet of the early morning beach prior to the crowded chaos that we all can now barely remember. "Shore Perspective" depicts the dawning of a new day, gradually warming to a summer day of fun. "Anticipation" is as the title implies, waiting for the arrival of a sun drenched day and all the joy that it brings to so many.
DENISE VAN DYKE
My painting "The Bright Spot" is part of a series of abstract seascapes I've painted. To create this work I used oil paint applied with a palette knife on canvas. A rebirth can happen in the sky and ocean at all different times of the day. Here the sun is coming through the dark, blue sky at the horizon line so it becomes a rebirth, a bright spot of light reflecting on the water.
KAREN WALLER
"Grand Tetons"
This image was taken inside a tiny church located in the midst of the Grand Tetons. It was a stop on a National Parks tour; the last trip I was able to take before the pandemic hit. The layers in it intrigue me: the darkened sanctuary, the verdant tree line, the mountain range, the clouds rolling by behind it all. It suggests an enticing, promising pathway just ahead.
SUSAN WINTER
"Breaking" "Suffrage"
I believe artists need to grow and change with the years, while still remaining true to their beliefs and statements. Whenever I start to get too tight, I work collage into my realism and oils. I love color and always scale the heights os my palette.
DAVID WOMELSDORF
"A Baptism of Rebirth" "Path to Recovery" "Peaceful Easy Feeling"
You may ask, why is this young man being baptized in the ocean outside of Ocean Grove, NJ? Ultimately, we are baptized to show that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
PATRICIA ZILINSKI
"Crysalis": Tempest enthralls, excites...absorbing the follower in its dark magic.Light emerges as Truth appears.
"Over Portland": Cobalt canvas. Energy explodes without boundaries, seemingly burying land and sky. Storm builds.
MATT ABERLE
"Resting Now"
"Anchor yourself firmly, the night is coming and I will not see you again till dawn."
"The First Time I Saw You"
"I was lost all day, I searched for you but could not find you. Night was falling. At last, I turned and you were there....my sunset ."
JIM ABERLE
"As We Gather Together"
I always love when people gather...in good times and bad...we help and support each other...making us all a bit stronger for it...this photo of a relaxing day at the beach in the past is also one of the future...where again we will enjoy each others company...together.
LISA BAGWELL
I work with trash, intercepted from its route to the landfill or picked off the beach. The "Goldfish" was made from the many orange pill bottles I was given from a friend, hard plastic six pack holders from Carton Brewing (from another friend) and dunkin' straws. Made sense to make a goldfish from all that orange! "Wood Duck" was made from the top foil you find on a bottle of wine pulled off in one piece (saved for me from yet another friend). "Beach Trash Collage" is made from items I collect on my weekly beach cleanups at Sandy Hook. I seek inspiration from nature and work to create subjects that properly use the materials I have. Collages are the most meditative to create much like the collecting of the materials is.
MARILYN BALDI
"Encouragement" is a statue in the middle of a temple "plaza" at the Crescent Moon Lake Oasis in Dunhuang, China. The gardeners of the carefully manicured plants have kept the growth at a minimum except for the one stalk which stretches towards the hand of the goddess. She seems to encourage its growth.
"Solid Marriage" is of rock formations in the desert regions of Namibia. The two taller outcroppings remind me of a woman in a long wedding gown with the groom at her side. The tree at the base represents the off spring which has managed to survive the harsh environment.
"Urban Growth" documents the taking down of older buildings in Asbury Park, New Jersey to make way for the rebirth of the city with new designs. The orange tops on the metal construction rods remind me of flowers, promising a newer, brighter beginning.
JAMES CARLSON
"Morning-Spring Lake"
I am attempting to do larger canvases that express what I feel in front of the subject.
MARY DEL NEGRO
"New Puppy on the Beach"
My son Anthony came home in early December with a new puppy named Ruby. We introduced her to the sand on December 13th. At first it took some getting used to having a puppy in our home but we have grown to love her. I will miss them when they leave in January.
DENISE DIPACE
"Beauty after the Blizzard 1, 2, and 3"
Monochromatic winter scenes are among my favorite subjects to photograph. Blizzards are brutal, but the NEW DAY is bright with beautiful blankets of glistening snow.
PATTI KAUFMAN
"Percephone" "Discovering" "Hours of Dawn"
During these difficult times I helped lift my spirits by painting these three pieces. My hope is each will help manifest the same for others.
SHEILA KRAMER
"Dandelion Wishes (Tara Taraxacum)"
My intention was to make something that would be evocative of the wishes and dreams I had for our children's futures as a young parent. Blowing on the dandelion puff, is like sending those wishes off into the future. Looking back, I see the evolution of their personalities as an ongoing Rebirth year by year. I made the dandelion puff from 200 frayed silk organza fabric pieces glued to thin wire and nestled into a pom-pom made of yarn.
STAN KRAMER
"Red Barn Museum"
There is nothing as traditional or American as a red barn. But to see it reborn as a modern museum was truly inspiring. And the view of it from across a country pond made it an irresistible subject to capture in watercolor.
LOUISE KRASNIEWICZ
"The Crabbe Family" "The Moss Family" "The Schell Family"
In the middle of the 19th century, Cabinet Cards (4x6 photos mounted on cardboard) were a popular form of documenting families. Millions of these photos still exist but they are severed from their context: we rarely know the names of the people in the photo. Instead of viewing the millions of these images that are still in existence as sacred objects that cannot be touched, my project rebirths them as images of new families who draw their identity from the natural materials now attached to them. The new names of these families are like traditional names which were derived from the labor a family was associated with. All the works are mixed media and are part of a larger project giving new identities to Cabinet Card subjects.
LINDA LITTMAN
Nature’s persistence, perseverance, resilience, and rebirth inspires me. For as long as I can remember, I have loved trees. I have photographed them all over the world. I am simply drawn to all of them, not just trees with beautiful foliage, but to trees in their decline, those that are bare-branched and stand awesome and bold against a white snow winter sky. Now as I sit at my writing desk, I see the huge skeletal oaks in my backyard and in my garden, I see my leafless fig trees.
The first piece, “Standing Still,” represents the intersection between my interests in photographing tree and my work in clay. A charger plate at my Birthday dinner June 2019 with a leafless tree drawn simply in black on a white background became the inspiration for a series of plates, bowl, cups, and trays. In retrospect, I realize that the tree on the charger is a representation and rebirth of my much-love backyard trees. In this piece, the tree was carved, etched into the under-glazed clay before the bisque firing and clear glazed was applied by brush for the final firing.
The second piece, “In Flower Forever,” emerged in gratitude for re-flowering of my miniature Meyer lemon tree. I repeated the process used for the first piece. The center flower was hand-painted and waxed before the rest of the bowl was glazed. The third piece, “New Day, Put on a Tie” is the essence of rebirth. The clay decided what it wanted to be. As a small a pitcher, its lip was too thin and wet, and it split. In its splitting, something new emerged. I saw a shirt collar and I added a tie. The pitcher lived again and smiled. For final glazing, the shirt and the tie areas were hand- painted and waxed before the remainder of the pitcher was glazed.
K. DORSEY LUCAS
The metaphor for my clay piece, “New Dawn”, is really straight forward....new day, new light, fresh beginnings. Anyone who has seen a sunrise usually feels a spark of hope and optimism.
STEVEN MEKO
"Rise and Shine"
I've always enjoyed watching the squirrels in my backyard. They are endlessly entertaining, and at times when there isn't much to smile about, they always bring a smile to my face. They are easily bribed by peanuts, so when my wife or I open our back door - they are always there to greet us. This little guy was one of a litter of four born earlier in the year. I opened the door - camera in hand - and he peeked out of a hole in the tree to greet me with a smile. Brightens up my day every time.
PATRICIA MEKO
"Iris"I painted this in my backyard during Covid Lockdown this past spring. It reminds me that even after a long, difficult winter, spring always arrives and the garden renews.
LAURIE NEYHART
"Nature's Womb" "Ethereal Dawn" "Life's Promise"The limitless beauty and resilience of our natural world holds an abundance of information and profound importance for humankind renewal.
EILEEN PETRUCH
"Wild Horses"This was an experimentation with painting over a panel covered in gold leaf. The sun is the only area left uncovered gold leaf. It was fun experiencing the gradient changes to the paint when painting over the gold leaf to create the depths and lights of the ocean. This is a mixed media piece with gold leaf, acrylics and oil paints. Also unusual is the light coming from behind the subjects as they race out of the waves onto the shore.
ANTHONY RUSSO
"Sun Setting"The sun has always been an inspiration for me whether it is a sunrise or sunset. This painting is sunset with the black silhouette of trees. I love with oil paint because of the vibrant color palettes. There is also a beautiful gold frame that is included with this painting. This is a great gift.
MARY SAVAGE
"From Patience, Peace"Oysters have many symbolic meanings; success, happiness, joy. The pearl itself can be a symbol of peace and patience; that out of an irritating circumstance...sand invading the soft flesh of the oyster, something beautiful is created. A pearl can also be associated with calm, strength and protection. All things we need now more than ever.
As we begin to see the light at the end of this very long tunnel, we hope to have learned something from our suffering. We hope there are brighter days ahead, filled with peace, fortune, joy and happiness. I reworked this painting several times, and I think at the end, what I was searching for was a feeling of calm and tranquility that we are collectively searching for in life . The bright colors I began with gradually transformed into deeper, softer hues. The iridescent quality that shows itself in parts of the painting reminds me of the silver lining that exists (it must!) for all of us as we look toward a brighter and more peaceful future.
KRISTOPHER SCHOENLEBER
"Burning Off" "Golden Valley" "Sun City"
I'm an award winning photojournalist, with 18 years in television news and 12 years in still photography. I specialize in landscape and nature fine art photography. My work has been featured in numerous art exhibits, and several publications. Born and raised at the Jersey shore, I love to travel and explore the world around me.
The pieces I submitted to the Rebirth show are all of sunrises from various locations. I truly love capturing day break, but I can't stand getting up and out the door at such an early hour. All the misery of barely sleeping and heading out into the dark washes away when the colors of a new day start to appear. Every morning brings a fresh start, and usually perfect lighting, colors and shadows to make a new photo memory.
ALYCIA TORRES
"Rising"I use a mixture of acrylic paints and old magazines to create collages that embody the power of women. I share my work with individuals of all ages and ask them to describe how they feel as they absorb it. I presented this collage to a 7-year-old girl, curious to see what resonated with her. After observing the piece for quite a bit, she looked up at me and said, "Liberty. Women are rising. The fires within our souls are igniting. Rebirth is happening.
JOHN TROISI
"Chair 4" was painted from a photo that a friend had taken and captures the quiet of the early morning beach prior to the crowded chaos that we all can now barely remember. "Shore Perspective" depicts the dawning of a new day, gradually warming to a summer day of fun. "Anticipation" is as the title implies, waiting for the arrival of a sun drenched day and all the joy that it brings to so many.
DENISE VAN DYKE
My painting "The Bright Spot" is part of a series of abstract seascapes I've painted. To create this work I used oil paint applied with a palette knife on canvas. A rebirth can happen in the sky and ocean at all different times of the day. Here the sun is coming through the dark, blue sky at the horizon line so it becomes a rebirth, a bright spot of light reflecting on the water.
KAREN WALLER
"Grand Tetons"
This image was taken inside a tiny church located in the midst of the Grand Tetons. It was a stop on a National Parks tour; the last trip I was able to take before the pandemic hit. The layers in it intrigue me: the darkened sanctuary, the verdant tree line, the mountain range, the clouds rolling by behind it all. It suggests an enticing, promising pathway just ahead.
SUSAN WINTER
"Breaking" "Suffrage"
I believe artists need to grow and change with the years, while still remaining true to their beliefs and statements. Whenever I start to get too tight, I work collage into my realism and oils. I love color and always scale the heights os my palette.
DAVID WOMELSDORF
"A Baptism of Rebirth" "Path to Recovery" "Peaceful Easy Feeling"
You may ask, why is this young man being baptized in the ocean outside of Ocean Grove, NJ? Ultimately, we are baptized to show that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
PATRICIA ZILINSKI
"Crysalis": Tempest enthralls, excites...absorbing the follower in its dark magic.Light emerges as Truth appears.
"Over Portland": Cobalt canvas. Energy explodes without boundaries, seemingly burying land and sky. Storm builds.
