The Tioga Arts Council recently announced its September exhibition, Form & Feeling: Works by Ethel Vrana and T. Benjamin Hobbs. The exhibition opens on First Friday, Sept. 6, from 5-8 p.m. in the Main Gallery located at 179 Front St. in Owego. Join them for an Artist Talk with Vrana and Hobbs at 6 p.m.
Ethel Vrana is an abstract painter from Ithaca, N.Y. whose work has been exhibited regionally in both solo and group shows. She is also represented by several international online galleries. Her work is owned by collectors in the United States, England, Austria, Sweden, Australia, and Japan.
Ethel knew, even as a child, that she wanted to be a painter. After spending many hours drawing and painting at age ten, her mother bought her a complete set of professional oil paints.
“The set was in a beautiful wooden box, with everything I needed to learn oil painting,” said Ethel. “It was no surprise that later when I went to the University of Rochester, I majored in art and philosophy.”
After completing her bachelor’s degree, Ethel went on to earn a permanent certification to teach art in public schools. Whenever she could, between raising her three children and teaching art, Ethel would go out into the beautiful natural areas around the Finger Lakes region and paint impressionistic landscapes. About 20 years ago, her interest in abstract art blossomed after she participated in a workshop, Water Media Collage, given by the well-known abstract collage artist, Carrie Burns Brown.
“I loved the freedom it gave me to experiment with new materials and to create abstract images from my imagination using line, form, and color,” Ethel explains.
Ethel’s abstract works are spontaneous and created using experimental techniques such as acrylic collage, painting in layers, and transparent inks.
Some of her recent works are entirely non-objective, while other canvases include symbolic representations and realistic imagery. This includes a wide range of geometric, amorphous, and organic shapes. Often, these shapes are distorted, which adds to their mystery. Sometimes, she adds fine lines to enhance the compositions.
Ethel hopes her abstract paintings create thought provoking and emotional responses for her viewers. Of her current painting, Ethel says, “I am inspired by the endless variety of compositional structures and evocative arrangements of shapes, lines, and colors.”
Her paintings are shown at ethelvrana.com.
About T. Benjamin Hobbs & Stanton Hill Studios
Becoming a furniture designer evolved from a melding of the family tradition of running a sawmill with the influences of my father, an engineer, and his mother, an artist.
After graduating from The School of American Craftsmen, Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in Furniture Design and Woodworking, Hobbs returned home and set up my studio in a vintage barn on his property. Hobbs and his father later designed and constructed a timber frame in addition to the barn that doubled the size of the studio. His wife, a fiber artist, and his mother, a sculptor, also have their studios in the building.
At RIT, Hobbs acquired the techniques and skills he needed to create his vision of originally designed furniture.
“I take pride in being the sole designer and craftsman for all my furniture, it may take more time this way, but it is worth the wait,” said Hobbs, adding, “Through all stages of the furniture making process, I pay close attention to detail; from hand picking the hardwoods used in each piece to applying many coats of a traditional hand rubbed oil finish. Each new piece of furniture is a statement of my original style.”
This style incorporates contrasting wood species, angles and curved elements, and refined hand detailing to make each piece of furniture unique. To learn more about Hobbs and Stanton Hill Studios, visit stantonhillstudios.com.
To view the display after the opening, you can visit TAC Wednesday through Saturday, from noon to 4 p.m. Cloud Croft Studies is the sponsor for this exhibition.
Contact Christina Di Stefano at tiogaartscouncil@gmail.com if you have additional questions.
Be the first to comment on "Form & Feeling: Works by Ethel Vrana and T. Benjamin Hobbs presented by TAC"