Open Studio Tour: Susan Minier

Continuing on our series of Open-Studio Tour introductions, artist Susan Minier will display her custom designed functional art for the home using fabric and collage.

"Residing in New York's Hudson River Valley, I love the freedom of being a full-time artist. Since I began my adventure with fabric collage in 1994, I have enjoyed creating vibrant landscape and flower collages. Later, I learned how to make beautiful floorcloths, table runners and placemats using acrylics, faux painting techniques, and collage. Sharing these techniques, I regulary lead workshops in these areas."

Susan's educational background includes graphic design at Broward Community Collage in Ft. Lauderdale, FL and fine art at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, FL. Her artwork has been shown in numerous group exhibitions on the East Coast. Since 2008, three were solo shows including an exhibit at the Woodstock Artists Association in Woodstock, NY.

All images and quote were taken from Susan's website http://www.susanminier.com/. To see how Susan Minier creates her exquisite works, be sure to stop by her studio in Highland Mills as you explore the riches of Orange County's artists and craftspeople.

Along the Studio Tour: Clayton Buchanan

The Open-Studio Tour, will feature nearly 40 Artists, each artist is incredible in what they do all are very different from each other, from Painters to Sculptors, Photographers to Craftsmen. We even have a dance studio on our tour. We want to bring people in to see who is in Orange County, and the delightful things they create.

Clayton Buchanan is another fellow artist that is going to be seen with in our County-Wide Open Studio in October. Clayton Studied Impressionist Painting with Henry Hensche, Provincetown, MA, 1968-1974, Worked in the Graphic Arts Industry for 30 years and is now painting full time. Clayton who is very well known for his pastels, creates wonderful vivid in color pieces. His work is described as Colorful, Realism and he has some exciting new artwork in preparation exhibition.

"I paint the real world" says Buchanan, "- those endless combinations that we see everyday. The spontaneity and natural fitting together of colors and shapes is a remarkable learning ground." His goal in painting is to comprehend and interpret what is in front of him and share his vision. "Composing those colors and shapes drives me from painting to painting and I am always searching to do it better - to capture that intrinsic mood, that fleeting moment of recognition when light gives birth to the poetry of color."

All Photos and Quotations were taken from his website, http://www.claytonbuchananart.com/. If you want to see more of his work he has a link to his great profolio, and if you have any questions to ask him, he has placed his contact info for anyone who wants to speak to him.

Along the Studio Tour: Daniel Mack

The Orange County Arts Council blog will be doing a series on the artists that you might see while following your open studio tour map. The first of these is Daniel Mack, a talented artist from Warwick who is often a teacher and writer as well. While you drive along Welling Avenue, you'll come along the Victorian Carriage House that Dan has made into his studio (which happens to be safe, accessible, and have a public bathroom). On display will be sculpture and furniture made from nature. In the artist's words he "explores the forms, textures and deformities of the trees. [He] separates the trees from the forest, re-present and re-member them. [He] wants to keep the history of the tree present in the work and still reflect the hand and heart of the maker.

Dan has been working on a series of Memory Chairs (part of the Mnemosyne Series) that incorporate found objects to tell a story, whether that story be about nature, life, or golf. He says this idea makes sense, because "chairs are part of the story of life. They witness events. They become part of Memory and Family History." The Memory Chairs are his way of making a chair's role in life more evident. These chairs often end up in museums, but during the Open Studio Tour you may be able to see some that are in the process of being created, and perhaps become part of its story yourself.

Dan's imaginal artifacts (misnamed sculptures by society) also tell a story. He believes that when people make something, like a sculpture or a chair or a friend, it is their way of being in the world. He says that "Making is a way of outering or uttering what we know, feel, believe, desire." When he creates things, he's telling both the story of his unconscious and the story of the materials that go into the sculpture.


all pictures from Daniel Mack's website

If you'd like to talk to Daniel Mack before the Open Studio Tour feel free to e-mail him at rustic@warwick.net. And if you'd like to see the story of his work, be sure to make his studio a stop along your map.

Open Studios Around Orange County

In October of this year the Orange County Arts Council is hosting an Open Studio Tour for artists from all around Orange County. For one weekend, from October 17th-18th, local artists open up their studios to the public so people can see and experience how they work in their natural habitat. All artists listed in this entry are going to be part of the Open Studio Tour.

Artist Joan Kehlenbeck

The Open Studio Tour raises public awareness of art in the community. There are so many people who don't realize how many artists there are creating in this area. I was one of those people before I became an intern for the Arts Council. I had no idea how many working artists were in my area, and I'm so grateful to have had the experience to meet them. This will give everyone the chance to have the same experience I did when I realized that our little piece of New York is filled with wonderful creative people doing wonderful creative things.

Artist Roslyn Fassett with her work "Veiled Silence"

The tour is a self-guided one. Maps, found online as well as in galleries, businesses, lodging sites and tourist info centers, will show a list of studios that will be open for visiting. One of the stops on the list will be our very own Arts Council building, where we will have five artists using our lovely office to show how they work.

In addition to a weekend of open studios, there will be an opening reception on October 9th and preview weekend from the 10th- the 11th. During this time, one piece of art from each artist will hang in our gallery. Think of it as a way to let you know what you have to look forward to while you're touring around the weekend after. Also, take this as an opportunity to support the arts in your community, because artists need support from their friends and neighbors. I hope you enjoy the experience of getting a behind-the-scenes look that you wouldn't get to see otherwise.

Work by Artist Jill Brody