BRATTLEBORO — On Friday, June 30, from 5 to 8 p.m., the Harmony Collective Artist Gallery, 49 Elliot St., will host a new artist reception for five artists who have recently joined the collective: Rachel Eleanor Brown, Sarah Gerould, Sandy Klein, Julia Sorensen and Monty Zwickerhill. The public is welcome.
Brown is a painter, tattooist, and writer. After studying at Parsons School of Design in NYC, she pursued her apprenticeship in tattooing, which led to opening Strange Brew in 2011. Alongside tattooing, she has spent the last decade concentrating in watercolor illustrations that pull inspiration from traditional tattoo elements as well as oil portraiture of musical and historical influences.
Gerould's paintings are a window on our world, organizers say: “serious, humorous, grotesque, and serene. They are an observation and a passion, an escape, and a commitment. The landscapes and creatures take her back to places she's been, and affirm her commitment to the natural world. Throughout her life, Sarah has sought mixes of art and the natural world.” She explores painting, marbling, printmaking, and collage.
Klein is an artist, early childhood educator, and costumier. Her current work, Redoodle Dolls, is a joyous culmination of those experiences. Sandy says, “character building is the joy of this work. Each doll tells me who they are as I create them.” She works in repurposed materials and says each doll has a story of how they were created.
Sorensen's focus is abstract contemporary art, although she says she enjoys plein air painting and capturing the ethereal feeling of nature. Her work is mostly oil or acrylic on canvas, with the occasional encaustic piece. Texture and layering are typical features in her work, which can appear sculptural. She believes that art has the ability to capture intrinsic elements of life and all that is fleeting as well as an ability to both express and evoke feelings.
Zwickerhill says she is passionate about exploring artistic expression in whatever medium she can lay her hands on. Currently she works primarily with watercolor, gouache, and acrylic pens on wood and paper. In her anatomical works she uses a base of watercolor, layered with gouache, and adds details and embellishments with acrylic paint pens, on wood or paper. In her Gender Envies pieces, she works with acrylic paint pens on wood or paper.
For more information, call 802-490-3676 or visit harmonyartsbrattleboro.com.