This month’s hanging exhibit and display case feature works by artists at Island Street Studios.
Island Street Studios at Union Crossing is a vibrant and diverse creative community of artists, artisans and entrepreneurs located in the heart of Lawrence’s historic downtown. Housed within one of the eco-conscious, redeveloped mill buildings, ISS is on the second floor with views overlooking the former Everett Mills on one side and the mighty Merrimack River on the other.
The artists on display include Leslie Cottrell, Cassie Doyon, Emily O’Hara, Elizabeth Peck and Tiffany Stewart.
Cassie Doyon is a local Merrimack Valley artist and art teacher who works with mixed media mosaic sculpture. Her art reflects a life long interest in primitive/tribal arts around the world along with the beauty of the natural world and is particularly focused in surface design, color and pushing the boundaries of sculpture with unconventional and repurposed materials.
Emily O’Hara of Silver Labyrinth Design is a self-taught metalsmith and fiber artist. She maintains a metals studio at Island Street Studios in Lawrence, MA and a weaving studio in her home in Andover, MA. In 1990, she took her first weaving class at East Lansing Community Education in East Lansing, MI. After returning east, she took classes in color theory and design and tapestry weaving at Harrisville Design in Harrisville, NH. She was a member of Hudson-Mohawk Weavers Guild in upstate NY and The Weavers Guild of Boston in MA. Upon reading a brief article about weaving with metal in Handwovenmagazine, she became increasingly curious about metal weaving and found her first course in metalsmithing at Cambridge Center for Adult Education where she has taken classes for the past fifteen years. Additionally, she has taken courses at Metalwerx in Waltham, MA and MassArt in Boston, MA.
I believe that art is essential to our quality of life. Painting is my escape to an amazing place. It enriches me, soothes my soul, balances me, and gives me peace. I am passionate about painting, and hope my audience feels my excitement. I grew up on a farm in Poland, where life was both hard and simple. My art education began in the US, with classes and workshops taught by local New England artists. Eventually, I earned my Certificate in Fine Art from the New Hampshire Institute of Art. Then continued with several semesters at the School of the Museum of Fine Art, Boston. Today, I continue my educational journey by taking a little bit of something from many, different, well known artists, including David Leffel, Jeffrey Watts, Rose Frantzen, Robert Liberace, and Michelle Dunaway. My painting experience centers mostly in New England. However, I also travel extensively to paint in the American Southwest, Alaska, France, Netherlands, Norway, Italy and Scotland. I paint landscapes (mostly en plein air), trying to capture not only the light and color, but also the mood and energy of the scene. I like to paint portraits (from life), trying to convey the character, personality and spirit of the subject. With my still life paintings I try to evoke emotion in the viewer. My abstracts give me the freedom to express my imagination and the emotions that I feel at the moment.
Jean Stewart, accomplished fine artist, goldsmith, jewelry designer and co-owner of Whitney’s Custom Jewelry, has been creating one-of-a-kind silver, gold and gem creations both nationally and Internationally. Today, Jean continues this tradition of excellence along with her daughter Whitney Stewart, after whom Whitney’s Custom Jewelry was named. Whitney’s philosophy is simple – to create one-of-a-kind jewelry creations that are not only intriguing and beautiful in design but also are of the highest quality. Each piece designed by Whitney’s features only the best materials such as fine silver, sterling silver, gold, precious and semi-precious stones.