This month's exhibit will feature works by local artists Marjorie Ball, Lisa Fatone, Amy Ryan and William Whitehill! Head to the Hoxie Gallery from 5-7 pm Wednesday, August 6th for an opportunity to meet the artists and enjoy light bites. Pieces can be viewed in the Hoxie Gallery through the month of August during library hours.

About the artists:

Marjorie Ball "My landscape paintings in oil are abstract, but have a basis in the representational. They are about our relationship with and appreciation of the world. I am in awe of the beauty of vistas such as a building warmed by the sun, ripples in a stream, a lone tree, a cottage tucked into the land, or an oncoming thunderstorm.
When the chaos of life subsides, I can sit alone and be enthralled by the excitement of the natural world. I use the colors and textures of paint to communicate my experience. Vibrant oil paints are applied by brushing, wiping, or dripping, reveling in the spontaneity. Then I scrape, scratch, or layer over my original marks to hide or expose my tentative explorations. Painting is my way to gather impulses, savor them and share the excitement, aliveness and joy I feel."

Lisa Fatone's work is known for its sensitive colorways, calligraphic lines and imagination which are primary to her as a painter to convey a relatable image filled with atmosphere and light Lisa’s involvement in art includes working as a floral, jewelry and graphic designer and a watercolorist. Currently, she works at her home studio in Westbrook or at a florist in New Haven. "Surrounded by a bounty of the natural beauty along the CT shoreline, I find nearly everything I need to compose and create paintings inspired by color, texture, reflection, depth, light, and shadow, resulting in work that captures the rhythm of nature."

Amy Ryan "I attended Paier College of Art in New Haven where I studied graphic design, illustration, fine art and photography. I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with high honors in 2011. I have been an artist all my life, seeing beauty in the shapes and colors all around me. Even as a small child, I was always imagining, drawing or creating something.
Whether it was molding sculptures out of my mother’s aluminum foil or coloring simple images with crayons, I have always been fascinated by creative things and have experimented with chalk, crayon, clay, water color, ink and more. Oil paint became my favorite and it is what I use today. I paint primarily in my home studio where I create oil paintings and show them in several galleries in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Many of my more recent work focuses on my love of the ocean. The smell of an ocean breeze, the sun on my skin or just the beauty of the shapes and colors that an ocean wave can bring intensifies my inspiration to try and capture it on canvas. Living not far from the beach, I have found a new wonderfully indescribable inspiration from the never ending display of changing lights and colors, forms and patterns that I see looking at the waves on the beach."

William Whitehill "I am currently living in Kingstown, MA and I am a fulltime graphic illustrator for the Life is Good company. After receiving a BFA in illustration from Paier College of Art in New Haven, CT, I worked in the apparel industry as an art director for 10 years, then founded a design studio designing apparel and related graphics for 17 years before joining the creative team at Life is Good. All throughout my commercial graphic design career, I have also enjoyed the act of painting and making images. Generally, I use realism to communicate both the strange and common ideas that often emerge from my dreams, observations of nature, and fleeting thoughts. As far back as I can remember, I have always observed how light and color can transform even the most banal subject into something that makes me feel an emotion not predicated on the normal interpretation of the represented subject matter. This series of paintings are acrylic on roofing tar paper and are mostly 3' x 6' - 8'. They were inspired by various scriptures that resonate with me and help me to make sense of this strange human experience we get to participate in."