 Stu’s Pear, 20 1/2 x 16 watercolor, 2006
EVA BENDER new work
Artist Reception, Friday, October 12, 5:00 to 7:00
Please note as well:
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA ART STUDIO TOUR 2007
Saturday, November 10, 10:00 to 5:00
Sunday, November 11, noon to 5:00
SPONTANEOUS, SPIRITED WATERCOLOR images will be featured in the Eva Bender, new work exhibition opening at Lynden Gallery on Friday, October 12th. The gallery will host an Artist’s Reception on Friday, October 12 from 5:00 to 7:00. Live entertainment will be provided – Lynden Gallery encourages public support to this ongoing venue for committed musicians to perform - a suggested cover charge of $3.00 is appreciated. The exhibition will continue thru the weekend of November 10 and 11 for the Central Pennsylvania Art Studio Tour, during which a painting class with Eva will be held at the gallery.
EVA BENDER embraces the unpredictability of watercolor, encouraging the impressionistic qualities and “happy accidents” of the medium. The images are grounded by her skilled draftsmanship, the graphite echoing thru with a sense of place and time. Autumn, states Eva, provides a particularly stunning opportunity to paint – the depth and clarity of colors “makes the objects stand out, and you can really see the bones of things.” She says of her work,
“Painting with watercolors is a daring event, at least if you use lots of water. I usually paint on the spot, enjoying all the accidents and discomforts. Every time is new: changing light, level of humidity, heat – and my own emotional state. I start drawing, then drench the paper with water, starting to drop in color right away. I let things happen, liking this accidental approach. I enjoy the lack of control and try not to interfere too much with what is happening. As the paper dried I start layering, usually finishing the painting in one sitting.”
Drawing has been the love of Eva’s life, starting at the kitchen table as a child with her mother in Sweden. An artist herself, her mother encouraged young Eva’s exuberance and self-taught experimentation, as the two found inspiration in their surroundings together – an environment of art, craft and design being an integral part of everyday life. Her still-yearly summer treks to Sweden continue to provide ongoing, familiar imagery – this new body of work including seascapes, backyards and porches, and her signature still life compositions of pears.
EVA’S PAST WORK, along with works of those who influenced her - including her mother, Stina Carlsson - will be exhibited at Lebanon Valley College Suzanne H. Arnold Art Gallery, Annville, Pennsylvania, next spring. Her works hearken from the likes of well-known Lancaster painter, Charles Demuth, and other American watercolor painters including James McNeill Whistler, John Singer Sargent and Charles Burchfield. Swedish painters Carl Larsson and Zorn were part of the visual culture of her growing up, and Mats Gustafson, also Swedish, who currently lives and works in New York.
Lynden Gallery Director, Lisa Clemens, and Scott Schweigert, Director for the Lebanon Valley College Art Gallery are co-curating this unique exhibition featuring Bender’s work. The exhibit will run from May 16 to June 22, 2008 and will explore not only the artists whose work influenced Eva, but also journey thru her early Swedish drawings, her “tree period”, her studio nudes, familiar interiors, and delicate florals. She recently commented,
“I grew up painting and drawing on everything, even the empty pages of books. I found depictions of a royal funeral on the inside pages of a book of fairy tales that I must have drawn when I was in grade school.”
Bender’s work has included in a recent exhibition “Picturing Pennsylvania: Architecture in the State Landscape” at the Pennsylvania Govenor’s Residence in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She has exhibited her work at the Demuth Foundation, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the Galleri Perols, Galye, Sweden, Lilla Galleriet, Umea, Sweden, and the John H. Hess Gallery, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
Educated and trained as a journalist, she attended art school briefly while attending Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. She has written a column for the Swedish newspaper, Vasterbottens-Kuriren for over 30 years, commenting on life in America, called “Evastinas USA”. She says of her chosen life work,
“most of my successful work does not involve much time, but I seldom get it just right. Painting reminds me of writing: looking for the right tone, the right word – perhaps one out of twenty paintings work out.”
A PAINTING WORKSHOP WITH EVA will be offered at the Lynden Gallery, Saturday, November 10 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, during the Central Pennsylvania Art Studio Tour. Students will have an opportunity to work in the gallery setting, surrounded by Eva’s work. Reservations are required - $75.00 per person, includes a light lunch - call 367-9236 to reserve your space.
Additional works of Eva’s will be installed unframed in her signature Mount Gretna clothesline fashion for the weekend. For more about the Art Studio Tour, see www.art-studio-tour.com.
LYNDEN GALLERY offers a Fine Art Gallery, Custom Framing, Art and Interior Design Consultation. Located at 117 South Market Street, Downtown Elizabethtown, the gallery is open Tuesday thru Saturday 9:00 to 5:00, with evening hours by appointment. Directions are available on the gallery website, www.lyndengallery.com, or by calling 717-367-9236. The gallery is handicap accessible and offers convenient parking.
COMING UP at the Lynden Gallery –
For more details on upcoming events refer to www.lyndengallery.com
To be added or dropped from this email list, kindly notify us at info@lyndengallery.com
RUTH BERNARD - iN and oUt: landscapes and still life
Artist’s Reception, Friday, November 16, 2007
Continues thru the holidays
HOLIDAY SHOPPING
Elizabethtown Parade, Friday, November 30
A selection of Small Gifts will be available in early November including:
Jewelry by Peg Shannon, Dori Eisenhauer O'Dea, and Renie Beidleman
Beveled Glass Stars by Karen Newcomer – get your order in early!
Copper and Silver Ornaments by Sylvia Lepore
Rip Squeak! Figurines, Books and Art
FIGURES - circa mid-late 20th century
Jazz and Chocolate Reception, Friday, February 15, 2008
A $10 cover charge will be required for the band
Fran Williams Wagner, Florence Starr Taylor and Eva Bender
|