Great Hall: Large canvases in ‘Feather & Fur’ exhibition

The new art exhibit at The Great Hall could easily be called ‘‘Wild and Tame.’’ Large, dramatic canvases and photographs dominate the exhibit entitled “Feather & Fur,” which was installed Monday in anticipation of an artists’ reception and opening on Oct. 3.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150915/NEWS02/709159945

Gallery co-curator Carolyn Enz Hack, right, and Herb Jamison level the large mural “Prey and Predator” by Adelaide Tyrol, left, of Plainfield at the Great Hall in Springfield prior to the opening of the fifth annual Public Art Showcase titled ‘‘Feather & Fur.’’ Photo: Len Emery / Staff PhotoPublished September 15, 2015 in the Rutland Herald Great Hall: Large canvases in ‘Feather & Fur’ exhibition By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer SPRINGFIELD — The new art exhibit at The Great Hall could easily be called ‘‘Wild and Tame.’’ Large, dramatic canvases and photographs dominate the exhibit entitled “Feather & Fur,” which was installed Monday in anticipation of an artists’ reception and opening on Oct. 3. “One of the goals of this new exhibit is to renew a sense of wonder and awareness for animals and nature,” said Nina Jamison of Springfield, curator for The Great Hall gallery, as she, her husband Herb Jamison, and assistant curator Carolyn Enz Hack of Thetford put the paintings and photographs up on the vacant walls. One large, arresting photograph, of the face of a barn owl, is by Jennifer MaHarry of Ojai, Calif., who has earned a reputation in California and beyond for her photographs of wild horses. MaHarry’s photograph turns the owl’s face into a tapestry of feathers. There are paintings, photographs and sculptures of owls, horses, cats, sheep, cows, ravens, hawks, a mouse, deer, pigs, chickens, mourning doves, deer, rabbits and herons, to start. The group waited for artist Adelaide Tyrol, who works primarily out of her studios in Plainfield, to arrive with the largest canvases of the show: one painting is 6 by 10 feet, and the other is 6 by 8 feet, and Jamison and Enz Hack had given Tyrol two key spots in the gallery. Tyrol, who is primarily a wildlife artist and illustrator, and the art director for Northern Woodlands magazine, had chosen two bird paintings, one with a Harris hawk eyeing a small mouse for his meal, and the other a soaring vulture. She said the paintings were inspired by a birthday present that her husband gave her — a class at the British School of Falconry at the Equinox Hotel in Manchester Center. Tyrol said the paintings were initially exhibited at Harvard University in Cambridge, and that this was the first time they would be seen publicly in Vermont. The Great Hall is just that — a great hall that used to be part of an industrial machine tool factory. There is a lot of space, and as one Vermont artistic icon, Sabra Field, said, it is “The space Vermont artists have been waiting for.” It’s big. Tyrol brought the paintings into the gallery rolled up, and the curator crew set to work stapling the canvases on a giant dowel and hoisting them into place. Jamison said the inspiration for the show came from artist Robin Truelove Stronk, who exhibits paintings at Gallery at the VAULT in downtown Springfield. Stronk is a veterinarian in Brattleboro. Jamison said Stronk asked where she could exhibit her larger paintings, since the VAULT has limited space, and the idea for the exhibit took hold. The artists include Richard Cofrancesco of Springfield, Donna Ellery of McIndoe Falls, Rick Hearn of Springfield, Lesley Heathcote of Brattleboro, Christine Mix of Manchester Center, Stronk of Westmoreland, N.H., Jamie Townsend of Springfield, Tyrol and MaHarry. The nine artists catch animals and birds at their regal best, or their most ordinary. There are chickens and sheep, favorites of many a Vermont barnyard, and dairy cows and pigs. But the exhibit also depends heavily on the wild world, the world of birds of prey. “The nine artists in “Feather & Fur” celebrate the beauty, intelligence and grace of animals and birds. The portraits convey to the viewer a poetry and beauty that are part of the animal’s story. Some of the portraits are colorful, sweet and charming, even magical,” Jamison said. “Adelaide Tyrol’s 6 foot by 10 foot canvases present a different perspective and suggest the regal yet darker side of nature,” Jamison said. The show formally opens Oct. 3, with a reception at noon to meet the artists, and a demonstration at 12:30 p.m. by artist Christine Mix on how to draw animals. From 1 to 1:45 p.m. the Vermont Institute of Natural Science of Quechee will present a live demonstration, with hawks and an owl. Jamison noted the opening will be in conjunction with the Vermont Open Studio Weekend, held both Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 3 and 4, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.