The Stepping Stone’s Holiday Show opens Dec. 4
The Stepping Stone American Handcrafts Gallery will kick off the holiday season Thursday, Dec. 4, with Hospitality Night. Light refreshments and wine will be available at the gallery from 5 until 8 p.m. The festivities will continue from 4 until 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 5, with the opening reception for Keep It Local.
The special event will highlight the work of five local artists: Sue Bartley, Karin Snoots, Betsey Von Dreele, Barbara Warden and Jeff Watson.
Bartley is a jeweler working with sterling silver, fine silver, 14-karat gold, 18-karat gold, rose gold and hand-selected gemstones. Her jewelry line includes necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. Her work is strongly influenced by the natural beauty of the beaches along the East Coast and her gardens.
Snoots has been inspired by the drama of nature, challenging herself to capture the dramatic sense of scale in space and light in her paintings. She is dedicated not only to perfecting her craft but also serving as a steward for the landscape that is her inspiration. Snoots has formal training as a commercial illustrator. Her unique style simplifies the natural details for more basic shapes and their inherent color relationships.
“Color can have a positive effect on our bodies and our moods; it can be used to help balance the mind, body and soul,” says Snoots. In 2013 she was chosen by the Delaware Division of the Arts to receive an Individual Artist Fellowship in the Professional category.
Von Dreele manipulates small strips of fabric into award-winning textile collages recreating the landscapes of the East Coast shores where she grew up, from the rocky coast of Maine to the Nantucket moors, to the Delaware seashore where she now lives. The textiles may include cotton, painted silk, netting, wool or raw fibers, all of which provide visual as well as tactile interest. Pieces may be hand or machine sewn using a variety of stitching and finishing techniques, or adhered with polymer medium. The overall effect is almost photographic, and often the pieces from a distance are mistaken for paintings.
Warden is best known as a fiber artist working with thread and textile to convey movement and a deep sense of emotion. “Thread has been a substitute for my drawing and textile has been a stand-in for my painting. After many years, at the beginning of 2012, I decided to unpack my long-stored boxes of drawing tools and papers, and start to draw again. Friends have been encouraging, have answered my many questions and have shared sheets of their treasured drawing papers with me. Their generosity gave me the push that I needed to begin exploring fresh possibilities in drawing.” With the introduction of Warden’s Baubles and Kickshaws series the artist is beginning to combine drawing and color. These boxes are slowly bringing her back to her painting roots.
Watson learned how to throw pots in the late 1970s. His pots are functional, usually thrown on the wheel and sometimes altered, and are stoneware or porcelain. “Forming the pot is the part of the process that I most enjoy -actually feeling the wet clay slide through my hands, the pot taking shape from the pressure and gestures of my hands.” He uses simple glazes and fires pots in a gas-fired kiln. Over the past several years he has been firing pots in a salt kiln. Salt firing dates back to 15th century Germany, when potters discovered that throwing quantities of common salt in the kiln when it reached high temperatures caused a chemical reaction with the clay, forming an attractive natural glaze.
The Stepping Stone is in historic Lewes at 107 W. Market St. The gallery specializes in fine handcrafts created by American artists. Holiday hours are 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday. For more information, contact The Stepping Stone at 302-645-1254 or email info@SteppingStoneLewes.com.
