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Rosie McCobb - I grew up in rural Massachusetts, and studied creative writing and filmmaking at Emerson College in Boston, MA. Since this was pre-digital, and color film was expensive, I was only allowed to use 8mm and 16mm cameras, shooting in black and white film. Though I have long been a fan of plenty of filmmakers and photographers who work in black and white, I felt severely deprived of not being able to use color to help tell my stories. I already drooled over the set design and art direction in movies by directors Douglas Sirk and Pedro Almodóvar, and knew that I was not the kind of artist who would thrive in a monochromatic palate: I looked forward to the day that I could blast my color up to “11.”

Flash forward years later, and you can probably see what I mean: as a photographer, I work in bold, multi-toned colors, and use the visual blast of that color to light up the eye and spirit. My work splits almost equally into two realms: narrative, which comes from my love of telling and sharing stories, and visual, which encompasses my appreciation for design, patterns found in nature, and graffiti art. Though these are technically photographs, in that they were made with a still camera (some even with 35mm film), I think of them as single-frame compositions in a movie or a novel I have yet to create.  www.rosiemccobb.com

   

 

 

 

 

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Cornelius McGillicuddy - or "Connie Mack" specializes in artistic pieces in many mediums. This 2018 Art Tour highlights work related to the Trout, Esopus and Fly Fishing. All pieces are handmade and carved. Bamboo fly rods, fish relief boxes with dovetails, fish nets, and fish sculptures. Connie also makes furniture, wood carvings, saunas, guitars, violins, tools, wood sculptures, and more.

Cornelius shown here at his forge

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James McColgan

About my Artwork:
Sometimes I look at things in decay - what someone else might consider old and useless - and I try and figure out a way to bring it back to a new life, to transform it into something useful or Nice to look at or just cool. I'm a craftsman, so naturally building things comes easy. I love soft colors and the beauty of Flowers in our world. I like to paint them in a child-like style. Children are as close to Primal Art as you can get - they see things very simplisticly. They are as Pure as Angel's That Fly! And Why would I want to shoot for anything Less Perfection? I make work in pastels, handmade paper, wood, tile, glass, copper and use all found objects! I Believe it's time to make do with what we have and stop making the planet any sicker than it is.
James

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Astrid Nordness "I like breaking rules within strict confines. I create stamps, often with strong images within frames. Then I extend echoes of that image – and new designs – beyond the frame to make what’s going on outside the confined area just as engaging. I work with an outrageously large pallet of colors—loud colors. No matter how vibrant, I find the texture and natural colors of clay stand up to the noise of bright glazes.
I became obsessed with clay, in part, because it’s a slow, multi-stepped process. I began life as an artist by doing pet portraits. I spent twelve years doing what became very rote and factory. I love animals—and i am a dog grooming in order to support my art. I incorporate critters: bugs, lizards, birds, microscopic life forms or whatever catches my attention in nature into ceramic work. Each layer, from building, to my stamp process, to glazing feels like more interaction with these fascinating creatures, more love."

Bio
Astrid’s father, Oscar Nordness trained at the Chicago Art Institute and was perhaps best known for designing the Pepsi bottle of the 1960s. He was highly encouraging of her talents, and taught her “how to see things, how to be clear about the big picture before the details.” With Astrid in tow, her father frequented museums and browsed art books, which contributed to her high esteem of teaching as a profession. She planned on teaching high school students and graduated from the College of Staten Island with degrees in Fine Arts, English Literature and a minor in secondary education. After student teaching, however, she opted for mentoring artists — an instruction path she continues to devote time to.
Astrid’s love for animals has always been intertwined with her art. Seemingly a natural extension of this fondness, she did pet portraiture for years. “It took a while to realize how much pursuing art for money was killing my creativity. Ironically, I’ve consistently made more income from doing what I love.” She painted with acrylics and did work in digital photography up until 2004, when Astrid discovered ceramics. Presently, her highly colorful works are studded by images from rubber stamps she constructs to imprint clay. Everything she does is one of a kind, production work does not interest her.
Astrid’s work has been shown at Woodstock Artists Association and Museum, Woodstock, NY; The Arts Upstairs, Phoenicia, NY; 60 Main, Phoenicia, NY, and Tivoli Artist Coop, Tivoli, NY.

 

   

 

  

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Margaret, Gavin and Jesse Owen - We lived on Canal Street in N.Y.C for 26 years with our children Jesse and Alice. We had a childrens clothing store called "Just Kidding" in Tribeca. we moved Upstate to Boiceville in June of 2001 and started a business dying and painting silk scarves. In August of 2004 we got together with a few friends and opened "The Arts Upstairs" gallery in Phoenicia N.Y. We are a community based gallery that accepts everyones work without judging or jurying. Our family has always been creating things and selling them and I hope we always will.

 

 

 

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Ralph Persons studied interior design at Russel Sage College. He has had thirty-six individual art shows. He has studied at Cooperstown Art Association and with John Pike at Woodstock. Ralph taught adult education art at North Colony School and he has held several Elder Hostel Art Classes at the Frost Valley YMCA. Ralph is no longer with us but you can visit his studio, his wife Sylvia will be happy to show you his art.

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Ann McGillicuddy: These traditional Scandinavian rag rug weavings are inspired by my Finnish/Swedish roots. After graduation from SUNY Purchase in 1989 , I travelled around Europe and then moved north to Stockholm to live with my mother’s mother and finally crossed the Baltic Sea to live with family in Helsinki. There, I studied Swedish language at the University of Helsinki and Weaving at the Espoo Center School. I learned how to weave on a traditional 4 harness loom using “rags”. The first piece I wove was made out of the old curtains that had been hanging in my grandmother’s Stockholm apartment. They were faded from many years of strong summer suns, and I ripped them up and created my first weaving. It is unconventional, in that it is not a straight back and forth weft weaving. I created shapes in the warp with the weft , using my hands only . The preceding rugs I have woven have been traditional. Many of these rugs have been made out of old sheets that I have scavenged from different places, and then hand-dyed ; they were cut up and recycled for weaving. In this sense they are very traditional rag rugs.
The elements of nature are embodied in my weaving …… I see each piece as a reflection of my natural surroundings.

 

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