Gafney Library April Artists of the Month and Reception

WAKEFIELD – The Gafney Library is hosting a multi-artist exhibit through April entitled “Eye See Seven.”  The exhibit will feature seven area artists and 37 pieces of their combined work in needlepoint, oil, watercolor and acrylic. The seven artists are Renée Hardy, Kimberly Muese, Jill Vendituoli, Grace Ferguson, Evelyn Nitzberg, Corina Willette, and Peter Abate who is also the exhibit coordinator. The exhibit most recently hung in the Franklin Gallery in Rochester and was brought by Abate in its entirety to the Gafney. Though apart from Meuse and Nitzberg, all artists have previously exhibited their works at the Gafney, the pieces in this exhibit are new.

The surrounding lakes and mountains are the inspiration for Renee Hardy’s paintings in oil, watercolor and acrylic. She most enjoys painting florals and is highly sought after for her commissioned pet portraits and landscapes.

Kimberly Muese is a nationally acclaimed still life watercolorist who returned to New Hampshire after a 30-year absence. Her unique technique combines sumptuous detail with extraordinary mastery of color. The results are watercolor works that are extremely realistic and unusual for the medium.

Jill Vendituoli is a self-taught needlepoint artist who has spent the last three decades exploring this traditional fiber art form and challenging herself by stitching needlepoint tapestries in styles, physical forms and with non-traditional 21st century fibers.

Grace Ferguson is a painter, photographer, and printmaker whose work is a response to beauty in nature and reflects the world around us. Ferguson is a New Hampshire native and it is not unusual that many of her pieces represent well known area landscapes.

Evelyn Nitzberg’s accolades include an Award of Merit from the California State Fair, innumerable Best of Show and first place awards from a lifetime of exhibits beginning at the age of 14. Her Gafney exhibit reflects still life set-ups using her collection of old toys that “spoke to her,” telling whimsical stories of life’s ironies, concerns, and fears.

Corina Willette is an Adjunct Professor of Studio Arts at the State University of New York at New Paltz and has taught art locally and internationally. Her mediums are primarily oils, charcoal, graphite, watercolor and ink. Willette is inspired by the things that make us human: created structures, curiosity, feelings, experiences, perceptions, play and magic. 

Peter Abate uses watercolor, assemblage, collage, and photography to create his works. Since 2004 Peter has organized monthly art exhibits at the Gafney Library and exhibits throughout New England for the “The Art Group” networking with artists from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Maine. He is a juried member of Mt. Washington Valley Arts in North Conway, and is a member of the Curatorial Committee of the Rochester Museum of Fine Arts.