REGIONAL – Just in time for the holidays, five local artists are displaying their paintings on the walls of the backroom gallery at Illume Book Store, off Market Square in Newburyport.
Two have hung their work in Jen Perry’s gallery this fall. The other three are at the popular book store for the first time. The five, according to the curator and exhibitor, Elizabeth Loyane, the five bring an intriguing perspective to the exhibition.
Celine McDonald’s paintings, described as “hauntingly beautiful,” have been exhibited in galleries and museums from New York City and Boston to the TV network show The Blacklist.
McDonald described her paintings as “Every window, color, skyline, sealine, twist of the figure, turn of the bow, tilt of the sun, is thought about, contemplated, changed, redrawn, changed again, repainted. Because the stillness I seek is always seeking me.”
Amy Vander Els is a contemporary artist, jeweler and educator who grew up in Hampton Falls, NH, and now lives and works in Amesbury. An arts educator for children and adults since 2004, Vander Els began working in wax-based encaustic painting in 2015. She describes her work as realistic not abstract, observational not fantastical, and drawn not painted. She paints “figures, landscapes, interior studies in charcoal, sometimes ink, sometimes gouache, mostly a study of light and dark to create a sense of form.“
Vander Els wrote that when she first began to study encaustic painting, she found that she lacked the experience and control with the heated wax to be able to paint realistically, and she became much more loose, gestural and abstract with her imagery and mark-making. By connecting this new encaustic painting style to the traditional drawing techniques that had been in her practice for many years, her work came full-circle.
An art education graduate of the University of New Hampshire, she has taught in Europe and the Cayman Islands before returning to Massachusetts where she designs jewelry, creates artwork and teaches encaustic workshops out of her mill studio on Water Street.
Elizabeth Lorayne, a Jungian and Expressive Arts coach and printmaker, is an artist, printmaker, award-winning author and ICF Associate. Lorayne draws from Jungian psychology, dreams, alchemy, mythology, symbolism, history, and nature. She is the creator of Animae: The Source.
“I felt compelled to create a series of symbols that abstractly represent core values. A handful of the 48 are on view in this show. I see core values as the compass and catalyst in the symbolic alchemy of personal transformation. They guide us through the uncertainty, refine our character and help us emerge as more integrated and authentic versions of ourselves,” Lorayne wrote.
Kiki Taron Kinney, owner of Quitsakiki Designs, a Marblehead design-fabrication firm with a deep specialization in silversmithing, has expanded her fine art creative interests, starting with sculpture, printmaking and mixed media. During the pandemic, she painted with alcohol ink using bright, vibrant, “happy” colors to overcome that challenging time. She continues to develop new skills, including watercolor, acrylic painting, handmade pottery and has recently introduced 14kt gold into her jewelry portfolio.
Kathleen Doyle is a costume and puppet designer and director working in theater, opera and dance. Doyle also designs silhouettes, shadow puppets and stop-motion animation shorts. She is the artistic director of the Sunny Side of the Street Theater Company, dedicated to pop up events highlighting the plight of animal climate refugees. She also recently founded Works With Water, the first and only U.S. theater company dedicated to underwater puppetry.
