April Featured Artists – Lynne Lockhart & Kirk McBride

We always look forward to April for many reasons. Spring truly arrives with daffodils and forsythia popping. Henbit turns fields a beautiful magenta. Days get longer and warmer. And Bishop’s Stock shows New Work by Lynne Lockhart and Kirk McBride. All make this a lovely time of year on the Eastern Shore.

Since 2007 Lynne and Kirk have been featured artists in April. Each year they have been gracious to share with our patrons paintings that come out of their studios in the past year. Both are full-time artists, always found in their studios when I stop by. Lynne does tend to their beautiful garden as Kirk finds time to ride the waves but being outdoors provides inspiration and images to take back to their studios.

This year’s exhibit includes familiar animal paintings by Lynne. As with “Big Kitty” shown below, Lynne gives her animals their own stage. Not surprisingly, Kirk’s paintings capture marshes and coastal images with the beautiful light of sunrises and sunsets. There is no doubt Kirk finds inspiration in a single tree or a stretch of marsh or sand. Check their albums on our Facebook page to see some of the paintings in the show which will be in the gallery through May.

Lynne Lockhart

Kirk McBride

March Featured Artist – Nancy Richards West & Jim Rehak

Our March show is one that shows signs of spring like Nancy Richards West’s series of small mixed media paintings of birds in gilded settings. Those who know Nancy’s work are familiar with her versatility. Her paintings in the front of the gallery are a combination of oil paintings and sumi-e watercolors. Her subjects are observations found in and around Chincoteague.

In the back of the gallery plein air paintings by Jim Rehak are featured. Jim is an artist we enjoy showing before he takes off for plein air events throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. He selects where and what he paints by the composition he sees. He always brings seasonal changes to his paintings. The work of other gallery artists – Keith Whitelock, Helene English, Eva Carson and Lois Engbeg – are also being shown.

Nancy Richards West

Jim Rehak

August Featured Artist – Sandy Strachan Buchanan

Sandy Strachan Buchanan, our August artist, is a familiar name to many in our area but I am not sure her reputation as a fine artist is as well-known. All I can say, her exhibit shows what you have missed. Sandy and her husband, Bill Buchanan, met in graduate school at Maryland Institute College of Art and both taught art in Worcester County. Sandy also taught Algebra, Tech Ed and was a Library/Media Specialist. Now retired, they are both pursuing many creative interests. Sandy’s have resulted in productive studio time. Her realistic paintings are beautifully composed “slices of life” taken from situations many would consider mundane but where Sandy sees beauty surrounding her. And, she does not shy away from capturing the images in large paintings. I call this getting a lot of mileage on a canvas! Some of the paintings being shown are in private collections and are not for sale but there are many paintings that can make you a collector of her work.

Before you come to see the show check Sandy’s Facebook page and Instagram.

Featured Artist for July – Ann Schaefer

In July we are continuing with a plein air exhibit of Eastern Shore landscapes and landmarks. We have a tradition of bringing Paint Snow Hill “alumni” back to the gallery with great enthusiasm for how their plein air “eye” and technique have developed. True to plein air painters, our featured artist for July, Ann Schaefer, paints to catch the light and atmosphere of time and place. While she paints a few interiors, Ann’s time outdoors in Maryland, in the area surrounding Washington, DC, Frederick County and the Eastern Shore, is what feeds her inspiration. While Ann does not need a structured event to paint, she does participate in organized “paint outs” throughout the region. She was recently a guest artist for the Lower Shore Land Trust Pollinator Tour.

June Featured Artist – Larry Horowitz

Since Paint Snow Hill days I have remained fascinated by the diverse talents of artists who paint “en plein air.” The history of plein air painting is based on the desire for French artists in the mid-800s to capture changing light and weather by painting landscapes outside their studios. They wanted to catch nature’s elements in real time. Through the course of the past 200 years outdoor painting has remained popular with some artists only painting plein while others use plein air paintings as studies for studio paintings. Today choices artists use in plein air painting are more diverse by medium, approach to composition and chosen techniques. The plein air movement continues to evolve as artists find subjects to paint wherever they are.

I offer this brief background to introduce our June artist, Larry Horowitz, and how we became acquainted. Last spring, Larry and his wife, Tami, paid a visit to the gallery while they were renting a house in Rumbley, Somerset County. Rumbley is not a place you think someone from New York would find but Larry is a “traveling” artist who during the first four months of the year takes time to explore the East Coast region from the Carolinas to Virginia and Maryland. The time of year and changing seasons feed his artist’s appetite for subject matter to paint plein air. It goes without saying – Larry finds wonderful landscapes and local imagery to paint – in the traditon of plein air painting. This was his second year in Rumbley.

To those who know me, it should be no surprise that I asked Larry if he would show his work at Bishop’s Stock. It is our good fortune he agreed to a show in June. His paintings are full of color, energy and local references to the Eastern Shore. Check Larry’s website to see his accomplishments. Unfortunately, he will be traveling and unable to be at the opening on Friday, June 6 from 5 until 8 but the paintings will tell his story and how the Eastern Shore inspires him.

May Featured Artists – Lynne Lockhart & Kirk McBride

April means showing New Work by Lynne Lockhart and Kirk McBride. This is year 18 for this tradition. All year we watch what comes out of their studios but this gives us a time to put many of those paintings on our gallery walls. The past year has given Lynne and Kirk great scenery and even weather to paint. Lynne continues to find unsuspecting animals to capture while Kirk still finds beautiful sunrises and sunsets to show the beauty of our marshes and beaches. Take them away from the Eastern Shore and they come home with new studies or photographs as references for studio paintings. Check thier websites – Lynne Lockhart and Kirk McBride – to see their recent work. Check our Facebook page for albums of all of the paintings in the show.

Lynne Lockhart

Kirk McBride

Opening Reception & Wine Tasting for Lynne Lockhart & Kirk McBride, April & May Featured Artists

This is our largest 2-person exhibit. Lynne Lockhart and Kirk McBride will show work from travels, from the Eastern Shore and from their backyard, We will be tasting wines from California.

March Featured Artists – Maureen Farrell & Karen Kinser

Our March show welcomes true spring with the art of two very talented women. The show, titled Drawing from Within, has Maureen Farrell returning and introduces Karen Kinser. As you can see from the work shown on their websites – Maureen Farrell and Karen Kinser – both address what they feel with their contemporary paintings. Maureen shares her emotions with her figurative acrylic paintings which start with journaling and sketching. Karen takes a similar approach to her drawing and oil paintings by incorporating her background in graphic design. Her primary interest is color. Both artists let their emotions drive what they paint. Maureen uses a process and Karen uses color and shapes. All of the paintings are in albums on our Facebook page. Below is a selection of some of the paintings in the show.

Maureen Farrell

Karen Kinser

Facebook Live with Jim Rehak

The introduction of From the Coast to the Rockies by Jim Rehak will be a Facebook Live post at 7 pm on Thursday, September 3. All of the paintings are in Paintings by Jim Rehak, a Facebook album under photos and on BishopsStock.com. Use this link to join the live post to hear Jim talk about his fascination with a changing landscape. Anyone interested in purchasing his work can leave a Facebook message or email info@bishopsstock.com.

Opening Reception for New Work By Lynne Lockhart & Kirk McBride

 

We great Spring with a wonderful show of new work by Lynne Lockhart and Kirk McBride.