Flowers.Fields.Forests.Abstracted

This show, our annual botanical offering, features work chosen by our Curatorial Committee. Each member of the committee selected one artist to be included in the show:

Tim Ebneth

Curator Norma Cohen chose contemporary abstract artist Tim Ebneth (timebneth.com). “Tim’s line work and mark making in his drawings and paintings have an exciting energy, whether graphite or ink. They incorporate a unique use of repetitive shapes and movement that are fun and charming, but always with an underlying serious sense of aesthetics,” she says. “His use of bold color and new material is stunning and quirky, and he is always experimenting with new ideas and materials.”

A native of New York City, Ebneth’s mixed-media pieces are inspired by landscape, music, and memory. His paintings and works on paper are layered with found and personal ephemera, text, and mark making. He studied fine art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and The Art Students League in New York City, and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from The School of Visual Arts, NY. His artwork has been exhibited throughout the Hudson Valley, New York City, and the East End of Long Island NY.

Sherry Meeks

Curator Leslie Gabosh selected painter and ceramicist Sherry Meeks. “Sherry’s work—both painting and pottery—is beautiful, earthy, and energetic. It brings the viewer into her garden and surrounding landscape where she gets her inspiration,” she says. “Her ceramics reflect her interest in the organic as both elegant and functional. It is the combination of showing both her paintings and ceramics for this show that made her my choice for this year’s botanical show.”

Meeks enjoyed a successful career as an interior designer before retiring in 2003, which gave her the freedom to focus on her life-long passion for making art. She studied at Chastain Arts Center in Atlanta and later joined the ArtWorks studio at the Westside YMCA in New York City.

At ArtWorks, she was able to fine-tune her exploration of various glazing techniques with pottery while continuing her abstract expressionist painting in the tiniest studio space in her city apartment. In 2018, she and her husband built a home in Ghent, NY, which features a large art studio where she can be found painting or throwing most any day of the week.

Tina Lincer

Curator Lynn Rothenberg chose oil painter Tina Lincer (tinalincer.com). “The minute a friend of mine showed me—on her cellphone, no less—one of Tina’s paintings she had just bought, I knew I wanted her work in this show,” she says. “The colors, shapes, and composition in Tina’s work are reminiscent of one of my favorite artists—Matisse. Her playful and colorful art are also a perfect antidote to the darkness in our world.”

Lincer grew up drawing and composing stories on the stoops of her native Queens, NY. She studied English and fine art in college, and went on to a career in journalism and communications. While still engaged in her writing, she returned to her intense love of creating art. She paints abstract florals, landscapes, and portraits on canvas and vintage wood, and also makes small collages. She says that she is most in touch with her thoughts and feelings when immersed in the blank canvas or the blank page—drawn to color, texture, whimsy, and the joy of mark making. Her work has been exhibited at the Martinez Gallery, Clement Art Gallery and Fence Show Select in Troy, NY, the Albany Center Gallery, and Saratoga Arts. She resides in the Albany area.

Susan Sabino

Curator Barbara Lax Kranz selected photographer Susan Sabino (sabinofineartphotography.net).“Susan’s work is mysterious. Some of it has a realistic bent, but it’s mostly swaths of vibrant color, shadows, edges, and lines,” she says. “That a flower or leaf lurks in the image is almost unrecognizable.  And yet, there it is.  A tiny fraction of the whole brought to life in a mesmerizing display that defines every perfection. I knew Susan’s work would light up any space.”

Sabino’s desire as an artist/photographer is to create images that have a painterly and luminous quality. She is drawn to flora and fauna illuminated by natural light. Using lenses that allow for extreme close ups to the subject, she aspires to capture the hidden beauty of each living object with a unique perspective.  Working instinctually, her work is intimate and from this she says she derives the greatest pleasure in her artistry. She has exhibited her photographs in the Hudson Valley and Berkshires.