Studio Montclair is excited to launch this year’s Affair of the Art with the works of ten SMI artists professionally reproduced on over 90 banners hung from poles on many of Montclair’s busiest streets.

The Arts in Montclair Banner Program is an ongoing and exciting component of Studio Montclair’s Affair of the Art fundraiser. Each year ten artists are selected to have their work displayed throughout Montclair. This year our juror, Nette Forné Thomas, reviewed almost 200 images and selected ten for the 2018 Banners. With assistance from the Montclair Center Business Improvement District, Walnut Street Business District, the Upper Montclair Business Area, the South End Business District, and the Watchung Historical District we have hung 92 banners. Special thanks go to the committee members and our curator, Nette Forné Thomas.

CURATOR

Nette Forné Thomas is the current president of Pen and Brush Inc. in NYC. She has a graduate degree from Montclair State University and was an art educator and administrator in the Newark public schools for 36 years.

A recipient of the Geraldine R. Dodge visual artist educator fellowship, she has exhibited extensively in major African American shows and other exhibits on college campuses and in regional museums including The Studio Museum of Harlem, the Newark Museum, Douglas College, City College of New York, Seton Hall, Rutgers University, Trenton City Museum, College of Saint Elizabeth, Monmouth University, New Jersey City University and most recently at the Monmouth Museum. Ms. Thomas has curated numerous exhibits throughout New Jersey.

VIRGINIA SCHAFFER BLOCK has a long, varied art career as an art educator, package and logo designer, and director of incentive marketing for a NJ firm. She holds a BA and MA in Visual Arts from William Paterson University. Ms. Block is a co-founder of SMI, serving as inaugural president from 1997-2003, and is currently SMI’s Director of Galleries. Painting professionally since 1979, she had numerous solo shows and been included in 75+ invitational group exhibitions nationally. Notable juried shows include The Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH, The Kansas City Jewish Museum, and the NJ Center for Visual Arts. Her work is included in corporate and private collections.

According to Ms. Block, “Imperial Portal #2 was inspired by my travels within Tibet. Visual entry points or portals allow the viewer to enter the picture plane and begin exploration. Images and symbols may appear and spark a spiritual or emotional connection; however, the images do not replicate but rather imply, causing reflection or recognition or both. The work gives rise to memory or imagination. Working mostly with acrylic paints, her technique consists of layering compatible mediums. Molded acrylic resins create dimensional surfaces. The painting explores the visual intrigue of using textures and patterns.”

ALLAN GORMAN is an oil painter whose artwork has been featured in over 100 solo, museum and gallery exhibits. Five of his paintings are currently on tour in LUSTER –Realism and Hyperrealism in Automotive and Motorcycle Art, visiting nine art museums through the summer of 2021. Additionally he has been invited to participate with some of the world’s finest realistic artists in a tour of four museums in Spain, starting in March of 2019. Allan often donates his design and marketing skills to Studio Montclair and is thrilled to have his art featured in this year’s Affair of the Art. In addition to his banner and painting included in this event, Gorman’s painting Z-Line Zs was featured on a banner in Manhattan during the month of October as a finalist in the garment district’s Art Elevated program.

Manhattan Valley Overpass is part of a series of paintings and drawings that explore the interesting shapes, moods, and plays of light Gorman finds under the elevated trains in New York City and Chicago.

CHERYL McNAMARA is an artist who explores the possibilities of expression using color and form in paintings and drawings. She earned her BFA from Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts. Cheryl has exhibited in New York City, Hoboken, Jersey City, and Montclair. She has participated in group and solo shows, as well as having had private commissions. According to Cheryl, “The goal of the art is to incite a reaction from the viewer to the challenge and beauty of life. To create evidence of the magic that surrounds us.”

Reading the Times recreates the romantic ambiance of an outdoor cafe. Says Cheryl, “If you find the man sitting to the side, he has His Sunday Times in front of him. The painting is an homage to my father; to the joy of the simple things in life. A great cup of coffee, the Sunday Times, the sun shining on your face, being in the moment. Look around and realize the beauty that abounds and all we have to be thankful for. The environment created is similar to that of Church Street; a favorite Montclair destination for sitting outside and experiencing the energy of the town.“

Says Sharon, my paintings are narratives and all the elements have symbolic meanings. “In The Nature of Things, the figure is a spiritual self portrait, portraying woman as a protector and caretaker of the natural world. The skulls on her blouse represent the courage we exhibit going about our daily lives, considering that we are the only living creature who has knowledge of our own mortality. The halo represents spirituality within all of us rather than having religious significance. The birds flying around her head are a reference to Giotto’s angels.

LEAH MEYERS is a self-taught artist from Ballwin, MO.

Holiday at Tibet is inspired by Leah’s travels to Tibet, where she has gone more than 20 times. “I like the simple folk customs and traditional culture over there very much. This is a picture about a Tibet traditional holiday. The girl depicted put on all her jewelry decorations, for some reason; she was very happy.“

EMILY OGRINZ grew up in the Bronx, NY and graduated from both the Bronx High School of Science and Columbia College. She has been creating art throughout her entire life, studying at schools such as The New School, Columbia, The Art Students League, and The Yard School of Art.Between college and motherhood, she worked as an environmentalist, including service as a Peace Corps volunteer. In exploring her artistic vision, she is driven by a deep curiosity to see how her ideas and experiences manifest in her paintings.

Her oil painting, Detritus, is the result of a lifelong fascination with the forest floor and exploration of the interplay between realism and abstraction.

MARISA PICARDO is a contemporary artist who currently works in pastel and oil. Her subjects are often the landscape or something from nature. She works from natural light either in her studio or en plein air and likes to have color play the dominant role in her pieces. Her formal training is from NJCU where she earned a Bachelor Of Fine Art and teaching certification. She previously taught art in the public schools from K to 12. Marisa continues her art education through workshops and classes. She is an associate member of the Pastel Society of America and a signature member of the Pastel Society of New Jersey. She has been in numerous group and juried shows; most recently in Monmouth Museum’s International Juried Exhibition.

Marisa’s subject in her painting I Pulled Over for This was influenced by a quiet and seemingly untouched wooded area. She was driving on a rural road when a very early spring snowfall on backlit trees caught her eye. The brilliant snow and emerging foliage was a scene she couldn’t resist painting. Marisa’s painting is painted with acrylic paint on sanded paper. Through her layers of soft pastel, you can still observe flashes of color from the underpainting peeking through.

RON E.A. POWELL likes to tell the story of why his parents gave him his four-letter initials, It was as a reminder “to reap what you sow.” As farmers in Jamaica, his parents were deeply in touch with the cycles of life. Today, Powell strives to achieve a similar holistic balance in his paintings. Powell is also a hand engraving craftsman at Tiffany & Co., and has shown his paintings and craft throughout the US, China, and Canada at numerous art institutions and events.

Ether challenges the audience to see the similarities and connections we all have to the world and universe around us: eyes becoming stars, hair seemingly vibrating the energy of the cosmos. The subject of the painting is not traditionally posed and seems to be observing us more than we are observing her. She seems very haunting; revealing herself and yet remaining enigmatic.

REBECCA LEA ROSENHECK is a New Jersey artist who paints from life and tries to capture the light in her work. Rebecca has strong ties to Montclair: her artwork was selected for the cover of May in Montclair Calendar of Events 2017, she was featured in Montclair Magazine’s Fall 2016 article “Art for Art’s Sake,“ and she studied painting at the Montclair Art Museum for more than eight years. With a degree in chemical engineering, Rebecca brings a different perspective to her paintings in oil, pastel, watercolor, and mixed media.

Painted in Montclair’s Van Vleck Gardens, Autumn Hydrangeas is a watercolor completed en plein air. Rebecca’s painting attempts to convey the beauty of the October mid-afternoon sunlight on the fading autumn hydrangeas. This watercolor is painted on Ampersand’s Aquabord, allowing it to be varnished and displayed without the need for glass.

THEDA SANDIFORD’s first creative endeavors were in the music business where she was a digital marketing executive. After years of leading some of the world‘s top musicians into the innovative space of digital branding work, Theda began to explore her personal creativity in a measured fashion. First, she transformed found and meticulously collected materials into mixed media artwork. She then added the element of photography to her process, creating multilayer and multisensory experiences. Finally, Theda began to expand fully into the digital space; digitally manipulating her works and guiding the viewer deep into the spaces of her psyche.

Side Eye is a limited edition (2/5) aluminum print. “For a perfect side eye you have to keep your head steady and straight ahead and do it all with your eyes.“

SHARON SAYEGH studied painting at University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She later studied under Dorothy Yung and Marcel Franquelin. Sharon was recently accepted as a member of the National Association of women Artists. Past exhibitions include the Holocaust Museum Houston, Texas, Monmouth Museum, Hunterdon Art Museum, Limner Gallery NY, and Artworks Trenton. Her work is in the permanent art collection of South Texas College and many private collections. She is presently a member of Exhibitors Co-op under Barbara Minch’s mentorship.

Says Sharon, my paintings are narratives and all the elements have symbolic meanings. “In The Nature of Things, the figure is a spiritual self portrait, portraying woman as a protector and caretaker of the natural world. The skulls on her blouse represent the courage we exhibit going about our daily lives, considering that we are the only living creature who has knowledge of our own mortality. The halo represents spirituality within all of us rather than having religious significance. The birds flying around her head are a reference to Giotto’s angels.