Here is the flyer for the Member’s Exhibit at Baltimore Woods. The reception is on Sunday, November 2, 2025 from 2:30 – 4:00 PM. The show will run from November 1, 2025 to December 16, 2025.
I am exhibiting this butterfly painting. Baltimore Woods Nature Center is located at 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus, New York 13108.
I spent the day selling artwork at this Harvest Festival at The Neat Whiskey Bar, 6706 E. Seneca Turnpike, Jamesville, New York 13078. The event included music, alcoholic beverages, food trucks and art. There were nine of us settled into a brand new event center.
Thank you to my fellow artists for a wonderful day (noon – 6:00 PM) and to all the amazing patrons. I enjoyed sharing my art with you.
I’ve got a couple of group exhibitions coming up. Stay tuned!
Jim Ridlon, Tom Slocum and Rebecca Carr of Belle Pietre Designs are the artists featured in the latest exhibition at Edgewood Gallery, 216 Tecumseh Road, Syracuse, New York 13224. The show is titled Colorful Celebrations.
The art reception was Friday evening and by 8:00 PM many of the items had little red stickers on their tags indicating they’d been sold. The artwork is very reasonably priced with some of Ridlon and Slocum’s pieces going for $200 or less. The jewelry is cash and carry, as the small jewelry case can be replenished.
Jim Ridlon’s paintings dominate the space. It is amazing how prolific he is.
Tom Slocum’s resin infused wood sculptures are particularly interesting, whimsical and let’s face it – touchable. That resin looks like water and it is such a cool technique!
I wish there was more space for the jewelry. I’ll have to go back and revisit the pieces on a day when there are less people in the gallery.
Colorful Creations continues through November 14, 2025. The gallery and frame shop is open Tuesday – Friday 9:30 AM – 6:00 PM and Saturday 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
Chuck Hafner’s Garden Center (7265 Buckley Road, North Syracuse, NY 13212) is like a garden lover’s Disneyland.
If you head over there today, be prepared for the crowds. I stopped by yesterday and I had to circle the parking lot twice before I found a parking space!
They will be open 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM for the second day of the Clayscapes Pottery Market. Vendors are housed in the greenhouse portion of the store.
It is so amazing how well designed these little mini ceramics stores look. It must take tremendous effort to install the shops for a two-day event and coupled with the fragility of the merchandise, I offer respect.
Oh, and P.S. – not sure what they will have left to sell today – there were a lot of transactions happening yesterday. Many people mentioned they were there buying holiday gifts!
One of these days, I will splurge on a Peter Valenti bird themed piece. Maybe in a few years once my Jamey decides he is bored with jumping up on counters and swatting things down (he has broken three pots and two glass shelves so far).
Twenty-four-year-old Zoe Sauvé is more than just flesh and bone. She is a highly accomplished technician. Her line quality is Mary Cassatt proficient. Her color choices exemplify an acute understanding of the formal principles of art, color theory and synergy. I am blown away by the detailed power, as well as its emotional dynamic expressed in these paintings.
Am I biased because she was one of my art students once upon a time? I’d love to take credit for the small part I played in presenting this emerging figurative artist to the world.
Not biased, no. I both envy and admire Zoe Sauvé’s ability to bare her soul, to be such a brave and authentic artist. In these life-sized self portraits, Zoe insists we look at her raw yet vibrant image. She sketches herself in front of a mirror then proceeds to find any available work surface to paint on – repurposed plywood or random size canvas.
I forgot to ask her how she’d transported them to the gallery. Maybe a truck?
Art in the Atrium is located in City Hall Atrium, 201 E. Washington Street in downtown Syracuse, New York (13202) next to The Fish Friar.
The opening reception was today. There is one more day to view the work, as this venue has been doing micro pop-up events. You can still see the show by visiting tomorrow, Sunday, October 5, 2025. They will be open noon – 6:00 PM.
Bravo, Zoe! I am so proud of you! <3
Part of me thinks I should not share unfinished work. I am 100% not looking for criticism, help or anything in that realm. I’m sharing because I thought it might be fun to explore the progression of my work for myself and for those who like that sort of thing.
If you saw my last post about this series, you will notice some changes. I thought the stencil details were too busy and that I attribute to me getting into my head about what I think people would want (i.e. a nature inspired gallery) and what is authentic to me and my style.
I eliminated stems as well, and the little buds. I reworked the paper collage items and added more colors.
I ordered more encaustic paints from dickblick.com. I think they’ll be here Monday, if not sooner. I really needed to incorporate more blues into my palette. The original concept for these paintings was blue lotus flowers but I branched out into pink, yellow and white territory plus a few other more abstract choices.
I haven’t smoothed out any of the applications via a heat source. I will re-carve the lines of the iconography eventually, add more color, do the more textured bits and finally, make decisions in the found object assemblage department.
I painted for six hours today. When I am creating, it feels like the most important thing in the world. I feel very impatient, like, I wish I had all the supplies I need right now. But really, I just need fresh air and time to decompress in order to prepare for the next step.
It begins with thumbnail sketches. Actually, it starts with a bit of research then sketches.
I then create stencils, prepare the hardboards with three coats of beeswax, carve the stencils into the wax…
add pretty papers…
and begin painting. Once all the boards have first coats, I give them individual attention.
Finally, I add more collage components.
I’m taking a break right now because what usually happens is that I want to do everything right away instead of savoring the process. Encaustic is not an instant gratification type thing. And as much as I have the image of a finished product in my head, there are a lot of happy accidents that occur along the way.
What has already happened is the classic “I know what I don’t want” scenario. The great thing about the wax is that it can be scraped off – chalk it up to a problem solving direction.
I love manufacturing a visual language that communicates my secrets and IÂ LOVE having the only key. <3
I’m preparing for three art events. On Sunday, October 19th, 2025, I will participate in an artisan day at the Neat Whiskey Bar, 6706 E. Seneca Turnpike Building B, Jamesville, New York 13078. More details later but I believe it will be a noon – 6:00 PM thing.
I will bring my own table and set up smaller cash and carry items – I do take Paypal and Venmo. I have a few weeks to figure out the details and I will let you know as soon as I can. I might share my Christmasy stuff or I might just do all the small heart paintings.
I will be exhibiting one painting at Baltimore Woods Nature Center, 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus, New York 13108. They are having a member’s show November 1, 2025 – December 19, 2025 with a reception on Saturday, November 1, 2025, 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM.
I will also be exhibiting one painting at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center (137 East Ave., Rochester, New York 14604). They are having a member’s show too. This will be December 5, 2025 – February 14, 2026 with a reception on Friday, December 5, 2025, 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM.
Currently, I’m prepping a new series of thirty-six paintings. I placed three layers of wax on each hardboard (they are 8″ x 10″). Later today or tomorrow I will carve the designs and eventually begin the rest of the encaustic process. <3
A bunch of geese pal around/poop around the sidewalks and pond at Hoopes Park. And then there is this one glorious blue heron! Yes – I made a new friend before heading to the art, craft and foodie filled tents that made up Art in the Park.
Art in the Park is an annual event at Hoopes Park, 100 S. Herman Avenue, Auburn, New York 13021. It was yesterday, September 20, 2025 from 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM and a perfect day for it, too. Sunny, blue sky, breezy, etc.
The cookie sellers did the best – Oma-Nonna had only three packages of Italian cookie assortments left to sell at around 3:00 PM.
Many of the vendors told me they have a variety of day jobs and selling their handmade wares is their side-hustle. They were all really friendly, happy people. The vibe in the park was definitely upbeat. Oh, and the event welcomed food trucks and music! It was really lovely.
Before I left the park (around 3:45 PM), I was hoping to see that blue heron again but that didn’t happen. Someone told me it hangs in the mini rock island in the middle of the pond, so maybe next time.
The Baltimore Woods Nature Center is a gem of a place, located at 4007 Bishop Hill Road, Marcellus, NY 13108. I recently became a member of this organization. There are miles and miles of nature trails – no bikers or dogs allowed. These trails, maintained by a staff of volunteers, are pristine, hilly and the perfect place to spend an afternoon zenning out.
In addition, they have a library on-site, a gift shoppe and an art gallery. There will be a members exhibit in November, so I wanted to view the space. The last time I was here, I hid rocks in the woods. I don’t think the building was open that day.
The current exhibition is a series of nature photographs by Don Crumb. The photographs are mainly of local and regional landscapes. There is a fabulous portrait of a fox – clearly the star of the show.
A collection of taxidermy mounted wild animals is also housed here.
The gallery can be rented out for parties, as it is connected to a full kitchen. They also host events in the room. You can investigate this further on their website.
Don Crumb – Nature Photography continues through October 27, 2025.
The building is open Monday-Friday 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM and Saturday 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Closed Sunday.
The hiking trails are available every day dawn to dusk. I would recommend walking with a friend. I sort of kind of got lost in there until I realized I could GPS and compass my way out. It wasn’t scary because I was so zen after two hours of zigzagging the paths.
It’s an amazing place!
