Yoshiko Doherty enjoys the work she does but says that she still has a lot to learn. Photos by Marissa Beale/The Connection
This winter, artists from the Artists on the Green Studio and Gallery in Great Falls will gather to showcase their work at Great Falls Library. The exhibit will go through January, and visitors can stop in to see impressive work by artists in their own backyard.
The exhibit features work by artists who all have a distinct style.
“We all scribble and come out very different,” said Leslie Anthony, one of the artists whose work was showcased on Thursday, Dec. 11.
“This is the first time we, as a group of artists, have been able to show our art outside the studio,” said Coty Dickson, another artist.
The Artists on the Green Studio and Gallery, located on Walker Road, is home to the creative whims of 12 local artists. Visitors are invited to stop by to view original paintings and to even take art classes. All of the artists have had some form of instruction, but many of them are also self-taught.
“I’m still learning,” said Yoshiko Doherty, an artist with the studio from Japan who does still-life paintings. “I have a long way to go, but it’s fun. It’s a great experience and all the artists get to know each other well.”
All of the artists are eager to share their work with visitors. Some of the artists are even using their work to bring attention to causes they care about.
“I do art with my nonprofit organization,” said Princess Aliyah Andolfi, an artist, and also CEO of the Kashmir World Foundation, a nonprofit that strives to improve the lives of people and animals around the world. She brought three paintings to the show, one of which will be a trilogy piece. Art is also a way to be introspective. “I want to understand artists and physics through my artwork. It’s also an effort to understand myself.”
Gail Péan, on the other hand, drew inspiration for her art from what she saw during a trip to Italy. “I went to Puglia, Italy, for a summer vacation and stayed in a hotel called ‘La Sommita,’” said Péan. One of her paintings at the exhibit featured the picturesque hotel, while another showed the Adriatic Sea. The final of the three paintings she brought was titled “Vineyard Dance,” a painting of a vineyard she saw in neighboring Loudoun County.
Another thing visitors of the exhibit can expect are art tips. “I used paint butter to speed up the drying process. It makes the paint thicker, otherwise it would take more than a year for the painting to dry,” said Péan, who also took classes at the Torpedo Art Factory.
Stephanie Pickens paints with the goal of reinterpreting the classics in a modern way. “I’m really playing with impressionistic work and also studying portrait painting. It’s an effort to apply the classics to the work, today.”
Artists on the Green will be at the Great Falls Library during the Library’s regular working hours: Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.; Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Thursday, 1-9 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.