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christian white

John Turner

The Three Village Community Trust’s 18th annual Fall Gala will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Old Field Club. 

The Fall Gala is the Trust’s most important source of funding to “Protect the Places You Love” and encourages everyone in the community to attend. As an all-volunteer and a not for profit organization, the Trust depends on the Gala to support its many projects throughout 2023. 

“Study of Sky over the Three Village Inn” by Christian White

This year’s special honoree for the evening will be noted author and lecturer John Turner, widely recognized as one of the most respected and influential voices for the protection of our natural environment. Turner is co-founder of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, the Conservation Chair of the Four Harbors Audubon Society, and an active member of numerous environmental advocacy organizations. 

Every Trust site benefits by this event: Patriots Rock Historic Site, The Immigrant Factory Worker Houses, The Hawkins Homestead, the Smith/deZafra House, the Tyler House, the Setauket to Port Jefferson Station Greenway, the Steven D. Matthews Preserve and the Bruce House. Additionally, this event helps fund the Dr. Robert deZafra Acquisition Fund — helping the Trust to purchase additional historical properties in the future. By attending you will be helping to preserve and protect some of our area’s most treasured sites. 

There will be live music by Carl Safina and Moment’s Notice, a light buffet, an art raffle for a Christian White painting titled “Study of Sky over the Three Village Inn,” spectacular raffle baskets, and much more. 

Tickets to the event, which are $75 per person, can be purchased on the Trust’s website, www.threevillagecommunitytrust.org. For more information, call 631-942-4558, or email [email protected].

By Tara Mae

After a 3 year absence, Local Color returns to Gallery North, a proclamation of the connection between art, artist, and community. On view from Aug. 19 to Sept. 26, the exhibit is presented in conjunction with the North Shore Artists Coalition and includes a reception and Open Studio Tour. 

The beautiful show features artists whose work is both universal and local in impact, meaning, and appeal. 

“[Executive Director] Ned Puchner and I decided to bring Local Color back this year and re-envision it to show through these artists what local culture is about. The exhibit is defining the role artists play in shaping identity of community and showing diversity of how artists define community: creating culture, creating beautiful and impactful work, adding to the identity through their outreach, etc,” said curator Kate Schwarting. 

The show’s art is as varied as its interpretation of theme, featuring oil and acrylic paintings, photography, sculptures, and digital renderings. Thirty artists, from St. James to Mount Sinai, will be featured including Kelynn Alder, Arts.codes (Margaret Schedel and Melissa Clarke), Fred Badalamenti, Joan Branca, Sheila Breck, Pam Brown, Nancy Bueti-Randall, Sue Contessa, Micheal Drakopoulos, Paul Edelson, Peter Galasso, Han Qin, LoVid, Flo Kemp, Karen Kemp, Jim Lecky, Jim Molloy, Carlos Morales, Patricia Morrison, Patricia Paladines, Mel Pekarsky, Alicia R. Peterson, Doug Reina, Joseph Rotella, Angela Stratton, Mary Jane van Zeijts, Lorraine Walsh, Annmarie Waugh, Marlene Weinstein, and Christian White.

“What is so special about this exhibition is that each artist brings a different thing to the exhibition,” explained Schwarting. “A plein air painter captures the essence of a familiar location and allows us to see it in different light; someone else [deals] with a scientific topic that is so difficult to comprehend, but creates art that enables us to know through physical form and visual cues.”   

Several of the participants are also activists who champion social, technological, and environmental awareness and change through their art. 

According to Schwarting, a number of the artists were recruited through the gallery’s association with the North Shore Artists Coalition, while others were invited by her and Puchner. 

Pam Brown, a sculptor who lives in Stony Brook and co-founder of the coalition, helped facilitate the partnership between the group and the gallery. Her piece, Armour, is a sculpture fabricated out of sheet metal, wire, boar bristles, and vinyl. Brown’s efforts in facilitating the relationship between Gallery North and the North Shore Artists Coalition reflect the connection she sees between art and community outreach. 

“Community engagement creates an opportunity for the arts and artists to be seen by their communities — it initiates new ways for the public and artists to build connections between different groups. It brings together communities so they can articulate their own history and culture and to acknowledge that art is taking place in a larger context,” she said. 

For artist Doug Reina of Stony Brook, who has exhibited at Gallery North in the past, showing his work in Local Color is reconnecting with a “fun, summertime tradition.” 

“My work is about sharing the interesting, touching, emotional, funny, beautiful, sad human things that mean something to me with the viewer,” said Reina. His oil painting, titled Boys Night Out, depicts 4 teenage boys sneaking out of the house on a summer night. “The painting is based on real life experiences we had when our son was that age,” he explained.

Interpersonal connection is a recurring subject of the show’s art. This focus extends outward into explorations of our interactions with and responsibility to the world-at-large.

Han Qin of St. James will be entering her cyanotype on paper, White Goddess, which incorporates digital photo editing, drawing, and papermaking. It was inspired by two poems: “The White Goddess” by Robert Graves and “Quiet Night Thoughts” by Li Bai. 

“I started the White Goddess series during my pregnancy and have been developing it until now. Poetry and life experience are the main inspirations. The idea behind the artwork becomes a shared experience that brings people together,” she said.

“We as a people have a long continuous personal storyline. Artwork is the moment on the storyline. My moment connects with others’ moments in their individual storylines; thus, a web of emotional connections builds up. That is a community, too,” said Qin.

Such cultural connections are enhanced through community involvement. In this spirit, exhibiting artists of Local Color will also be featured in an Open Studio Tour hosted by the North Shore Artists Coalition and Gallery North on Sept. 25 and 26, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. 

“With one piece from each of the selected artists in the exhibit itself, the Open Studio Tour allows for an expanded view of the individual artists,” said Schwarting. 

Gallery North, 90 North Coutry Road, Setauket presents Local Color from Aug. 19 to Sept. 26. Join the artists for an opening reception tonight, August 19, from 6 to 8 p.m. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call 631-751-2676 or visit www.gallerynorth.org.

Image from The Atelier
Christian White

The Atelier at Flowerfield in St. James continues its online webinar series with Nuts and Bolts of Color: Practical help on employing modern and traditional knowledge of color in painting, with artist Christian White on Thursday, Feb. 18 from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

As a follow-up to his most recent lecture “Manet and Modernism” (viewable on the Atelier’s website), White will address color as a practical matter in painting, with some demonstration of approaches to pigments, mixing colors, and developing color composition and color harmony. He will attempt to show how the artists he spoke of as influences helped develop his use of color in both figurative and abstract ideas. Free. To register, visit www.theatelieratflowerfield.org and choose workshops/events. For more information, call 631-250-9009.

 

Join the Atelier at Flowerfield in St. James for an online lecture titled Manet and Modernism: About the Use of Color in Modern Times on Thursday, Jan. 14 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Artist and teacher Christian White will discuss the evolution of color as a decorative and structural tool in painting among post-academic painters. Artists like Manet, Fantin-Latour, Sargent, Sorolla, Matisse, Gorky, de Kooning, Phillip Guston, Diebenkorn, Fairfield Porter, Wolf Kahn, et alia have influenced Christian. He will attempt to explain some of the underlying concepts of Modernism from the point of view of color.

About Christian White

Christian White

Born in Rome in 1953, Christian descends from generations of acclaimed artists. At age 12 he studied life drawing with his father; at 13 he studied welding, stained glass and mosaic in Holland. He lived at the American Academy in Rome as a teen and attended the Liceo Artistico, an Italian Art high school.

Christian is renowned for his Long Island landscapes, his work is included in Long Island Landscape Painting-The Twentieth Century by Ronald Pisano.

Christian’s career has been a varied one as he is also an accomplished sculptor. He recently completed the “Iconic Wall”, a 450 square foot limestone relief for the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University.

His work is included in many major public and private collections including: The National Academy, the Heckscher Museum, The Long Island Museum, the Bessemer Trust, the Renaissance Corporation, James Simons, Robert Forbes, Gloria Vanderbilt, etc.

 To register, visit www.theatelieratflowerfield.org or call 250-9009.

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A COLORFUL PALATE The North Shore Artists Coalition held its second annual Artists Open Studio Tour on Nov. 11 and 12. Eleven award-winning artists welcomed visitors into their studios to see where the magic happens including, clockwise from top left, Peter Gallasso of Setauket, Hugh McElroy of Port Jefferson, Christian White of St. James, Nanci Bueti-Randall of Stony Brook (in her St. James studio), Sungsook Setton of Setauket, and Jim Molloy of Miller Place. Other participating artists included Doug Reina, Mary Jane van Zeijts, Marlene Weinstein, Pam Brown and Kelynn Z. Alder. Guests were able to view artwork for sale, ask questions and enjoy refreshments.

Photos by Heidi Sutton

Abstract artist Peter Galasso’s Setauket studio will be one of the stops on the tour. Photo from Peter Galasso

By Heidi Sutton

The North Shore is teeming with talented artists and local venues like the Mills Pond House Gallery, the Reboli Center for Art and History, The Long Island Museum, Gallery North, the Port Jefferson Village Center and libraries are more than eager to show off their artwork. But what if you could hit the rewind button and observe the artist working on the piece right before your eyes?

That rare opportunity will arise this weekend as the North Shore Artist Coalition hosts its second annual Artist Open Studio Tour.

Doug Reina will be working on a painting during the tour. Photo from Doug Reina

The self-guided event will offer an intimate glimpse into the working studios of 11 award-winning artists living in Miller Place, St. James, Setauket, Port Jefferson and Stony Brook, giving visitors a personal opportunity to meet and talk with artists about their work and the creative process.

The coalition, whose core artist group is Nancy Bueti-Randall, Mary Jane van Zeijts, Jim Molloy, Doug Reina and Pam Brown, formed last year to contribute to the community through exhibitions, open studio tours and educational programs. “Fundamentally we believe the arts improve our lives and enrich our communities culturally, socially and economically. As well our mission is to promote and increase regional awareness of professional artists working in a wide range of styles and studio practices,” said Brown in a recent email.

Artists Peter Galasso, Kelynn Z. Adler, Sungsook Setton, Christian White, Hugh McElroy and Marlene Weinstein were invited to participate in this year’s tour.

Artist Pam Brown’s studio is one of the stops on the tour. Photo from Pam Brown

“Each year we invite artists from the Three Village and surrounding areas [to join us],” Brown explained. “Our goal is to invite more artists each year as the Studio Tour grows.” In addition to the Artist Studio Tour, the group aims to have yearly pop-up exhibitions. This past June, Mary Jane van Zeijts hosted an exhibition at her Setauket studio titled Five @ 268 Art on Main that featured the core group. Upcoming projects include a curated exhibition of the Artists in the Studio Tour. “Currently we are looking for exhibition spaces in our local area,” said Brown.

At each studio, which can be in a backyard barn, garage, house, storefront or outdoor space, visitors will be able to talk freely with the artists and ask questions about their approach and individual styles to making art. “They can visit as long as they like,” said Brown. “Additionally some of the artists will be doing demonstrations and talking directing about their processes and the materials they use.”

Visitors can also expect to see a variety of artwork on display including original paintings, sculptures, ceramics, pastels, photographs, prints and textiles. Additionally, artwork will be for sale.

Brown is hoping to attract even more visitors to this year’s event. “Last year’s Studio Tour was very successful and well-attended, we received positive feedback from local art organizations and other cultural venues, plus we had incredible support from fellow artists, friends and our community at large,” she said.

“It is our hope that people walk away with a deeper meaning and understanding of art, the Artist, and the important role that art plays in our community.”

The North Shore Artist Coalition’s Artist’s Open Studio Tour will be held on Saturday, Nov. 11 and Sunday, Nov. 12 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The event will be held rain or shine and admission is free. Refreshments will be served at several studios. For a list of the 11 locations, visit www.facebook.com/NorthShoreArtistCoalition. For more information, call 631-834-9036.

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'NSP Docks' by Christian White

By Irene Ruddock

If you only attend one gallery exhibit this summer, make it the stunning collection of new paintings by Christian White showing at The Atelier at Flowerfield in St. James this month. White is a multitalented artist creating works in stone, watercolor, graphite, gouache, trompe l’oeil, egg tempera and, of course, his ever popular luscious color-saturated oils paintings.

Your exhibit of new paintings has been described as ‘breathtaking.’ Do you have a favorite piece?

These paintings are an attempt to find something new in subjects that I have painted often over my career. I never really have a favorite piece, I am more interested in how the paintings look together, and I am very happy with how these look as a group.

You refer to yourself as a colorist. What is your secret to creating such pure, clean color that exudes light and atmosphere so well? How do you prepare for painting large pieces?

I believe that if one uses color, it should have a purpose, that is, a decorative, thematic and expressive function in the picture. I have no real secrets to my color ideas, except that I have studied the subject a great deal. I do have certain ways of preparing colors in advance when working on large pieces, which are partly influenced by certain modernist and abstract painters.

You have such a remarkable heritage with five generations of famous painters, architects, poets, sculptors, etc. Who do you admire and learn from most in your family line?

I learned a great deal from everyone in my family who I knew personally. It is hard to say which part of one’s education is most important; I believe everything one learns contributes to who you are. I admired my father, Robert White, a great deal and spent much of my youth learning from him by example. I also admired my maternal grandfather, Joep Nicolas, a lot. I studied with him briefly in Holland, as well as with my aunt, Sylvia Nicolas, and a Japanese sculptor named Shinkichi Tajiri. Joep had a facility and imagination that I never felt I would attain, so yes, I admired that very much, but all of them had important lessons to give.

Is there a present-day artist who you hold in esteem and would like to meet?

I think I would say the South African artist, William Kentridge. He has an originality which I find engrossing and magical, and although he uses some modern technology, most of his work is just charcoal on paper, I love that he creates such original work with such a simple medium.

‘Japanese Maple #2’ by Christian White

Which is your favorite art museum? Is there an art museum that you would like to visit but haven’t yet?

For most of my life I would have said: The Frick. But now I probably spend more of my time at MoMA. I would love to see the Prado some day.

Japanese Maple #2 appears to be a joyfully abstract painting that exudes the wonder and brilliance of autumn. Can you explain a bit about your abstract paintings vs. your more traditional approach?

That is one of several paintings where I have tried to bring exterior space and structure forward into the room, like a window moved forward perhaps. I do not exactly consider these paintings abstract, although I have borrowed some ideas from abstract painters, and I suppose there is a certain feeling akin to “action painting” in its execution.

‘Harbor, March’ by Christian White

The painting ‘Harbor, March’ created quite a stir. What do you think makes it so universally inviting?

That painting was based on a smaller study that I did on a very warm, still day in March last year. I was trying to describe the unusual color of the air that day. I am often trying to capture a familiar subject in a new light. I think the scale of this one gives it a more specific mood, perhaps.

It’s hard to surpass your superb draftsmanship. Would you consider an exhibit with just your graphite drawings? Do you draw with your brush while painting in oils?

I consider drawing to be the basic skill and language that artists use to communicate. In recent years I have become more interested in producing drawings as objects of art, so yes, someday I may have an exhibit of just drawings. Am I drawing with the brush when I paint? Absolutely.

‘A Clutch of Daffodils’ by Christian White

You are presently teaching at The Atelier. Can you tell us why you were drawn to teach and exhibit there?

I was intrigued by the idea of a school that would give students solid foundational skills, in an organized studio setting. I think an emphasis on teaching drawing skills (not just copying from two dimensions) is crucial, though difficult, toward making better artists.

You’ve said that you were influenced by the Southampton artist, Fairfield Porter, a friend of your father. What did you learn from him?

He was also very close to my mother (they were both art critics). Mostly I was influenced by his work, his ability to make realism look so much like modernism, his insistence on making every color a design decision and the way he simplified the subject, without making it any less immediate. Those were things I wanted to do as well.

The Atelier at Flowerfield, 2 Flowerfield, Suite 15, St. James will present the exhibition Christian White: Recent Works through Aug. 31. Gallery hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sundays. For more information, please call 631-250-9009 or visit www.atelierflowerfield.org.

Photo by Heidi Sutton

ART RECEPTION Despite the torrential downpours, The Atelier at Flowerfield hosted a well-attended art reception for its inaugural exhibition, a show titled Christian White: Recent Work, on July 13. Christian White is a nationally recognized painter and an instructor at The Atelier at Flowerfield, which was founded one year ago and now has over 200 students. The solo exhibit depicts local landscapes and The Atelier method of drawing and painting from life.

Above, the artist (in tan shirt) poses in front of his painting “Japanese Maple #2” with, from left, Tasha Boehm, assistant director of operations; Gaby Field-Rahman, administrator; Diane Moffet, assistant secretary; Margaret McEvoy, director of operations; Kevin McEvoy, president and director of The Atelier; mother Claire Nicolas White; Paul Lamb, chairman of the board; and David Madigan, trustee. The exhibit runs through Aug. 31. The Atelier at Flowerfield is located at 2 Flowerfield, Suite 15 in St. James. For further information, call 631-250-9009 or visit www.atelierflowerfield.org.

‘Still Life with Peaches’ by Christian White. Photo courtesy of Gallery North

By Ellen Barcel

Gallery North will be presenting a new exhibit, one guaranteed to make the viewer both hungry and thirsty. Thirty artists will have their work on display in The Art of Eating opening Feb. 23 and running through Friday, March 17.

‘Mussels’ by Bruce Lieberman. Image courtesy of Gallery North

Judith Levy, executive director of the gallery, noted that the first time she curated The Art of Eating, six years ago, she had been reading food author M.F.K. Fisher’s collection of essays, “The Art of Eating,” when she got the idea to actually display paintings that focused on food.

In that first exhibit, an artist brought in five images of pizza, the last one showing only the leftover crust. “Some people had unique images,” she observed. This time, Levy said, some of the paintings would be “quirky, some extravagant, some really fun … Someone even did a painting of a wine cork. There’s a wide variety of paintings …. Hanging the show is so much fun seeing the pictures communicate with each other.”

Jackie Lima, one of the artists in the show, is currently in Asia. She was so interested in being in the show, she sent a painting, “Thali,” all the way from India when she heard about the upcoming exhibit. Thali, typical Indian fare, features various dishes served on a platter.

‘Carrots and Oranges’ by Denis Ponsot. Image courtesy of Gallery North

Three Village’s own Christian White will be showing two paintings including “Still Life With Peaches,” a tempting display of fruit and thick, crusty bread with beautiful flowers in the background. Setauket artist Eleanor Meier, well known for her still lifes, many with various food themes, will be showing three pieces, “Pepper Parade,” “Pears and a Blue Plate” and “Juicy Sweet.” Bruce Lieberman’s “Mussels” is so appropriate with Long Island’s seafaring history as is Joan Branca’s “Fish for Sale.” Then there’s Denis Ponsot’s “Carrots and Oranges,” and Tim Kennedy’s “Layer Cake,” the perfect ending to this visual meal.

Styles for the 30 artists vary as does the media from oils to acrylics and water colors as well as drawings and hand pulled prints. Expect realism as well as more abstract styles, all inspired by food and beverages.

There are two special events connected with The Art of Eating. An opening reception will be held on Feb. 23 from 5 to 7 p.m. to which the public is invited. In keeping with the theme of the exhibit, on March 12, from 3 to 5 p.m. the gallery plans to have a tasting menu, A Little Taste of France, prepared by renown chef Guy Reuge of Mirabelle Tavern at the Three Village Inn. Referred to as “France’s gift to Long Island,” the award-winning chef will have his new book, “A Chef’s Odyssey,” available for purchase at the event and will sign copies. The book, described as “an insider’s tour” of restaurants, also includes some of his favorite recipes. Cost of the tasting menu is $45 per person. Call the gallery or email [email protected] to register (by March 8) and for further details.

Gallery North is located at 90 North Country Road in Setauket. It is open Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. For further information, call 631-751-2676 or visit www.gallerynorth.org.

Artist Doug Reina in his Setauket studio. Photo from Pam Brown

By Kevin Redding

From the Reboli Center for Art and History and The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook to Gallery North in Setauket, the North Shore community has no shortage of options when it comes to appreciating work from local artists.

But for those who trek through art exhibitions seeking a more in-depth glimpse into the artist’s process and how specific paintings and sculptures came to be, there’s an opportunity to see it all up close and personal this weekend.

The Artists

Pam Brown

26 William Penn Drive

Stony Brook

Nancy Bueti-Randall

574 Moriches Road

St. James

Peter Galasso

28 Gaul Road

South Setauket

Flo Kemp

94 Old Field Road

Setauket

Hugh McElroy

114 Hallett Avenue

Port Jefferson

Jim Molloy

403 Pipe Stave Hollow Road

Miller Place

Doug Reina

290 Main Street

Setauket

Sungsook Setton

22 Mud Road

Setauket

Mary Jane van Zeijts

268 Main Street

Setauket

Fernanda Vargas

11 Robert Townsend Lane

Setauket

Annemarie Waugh

34 Southgate Road

Setauket

Christian White

574 Moriches Road

St. James

Saturday, Nov. 12, and Sunday, Nov. 13, from noon to 5 p.m., the North Shore Artist Coalition will present an Artist Open Studio Tour that will provide the public with a free and intimate look at the studios of 12 local artists all within Three Village and its surrounding areas.

Artist Pam Brown in her studio in Stony Brook. Photo from Pam Brown
Artist Pam Brown in her studio in Stony Brook. Photo from Pam Brown

Those on the self-guided tour will have the opportunity to meet and talk with the artists — mostly painters and sculptors — about their work, range of styles and studio practices. Among the core artist group is sculptor Pam Brown, who, along with painters Doug Reina, Jim Molloy, Mary Jane van Zeijts and Nancy Bueti-Randall, decided to organize the event in an effort to promote professional artists who live on the North Shore. Other award-winning artists including Peter Galasso, Flo Kemp, Sungsook Setton, Fernanda Vargas, Christian White, Annemarie Waugh and Hugh McElroy were invited to participate in this weekend tour.

Brown, who once served as gallery director and curator at Dowling College, said the group wants to contribute to an already thriving art community and help identify the area as a cultural hub. Since the event is brand new, the artists are still unsure what kind of audience they should expect. Working in a creative field, Brown said that artists are always trying to build their audience, and so the group hopes to see a lot of people interested in observing their process — including kids.

“I think it’s a great way for them [kids] to see artists making a living,” said Brown. “Everyone on the tour is very social and friendly, and it will definitely be a comfortable ‘meet-and-greet’ situation. You can come by, meet the artists, see their studio practice and get the inside story as to the what, where, why and how of their work. Overall it’s a win-win for the community.”

According to Brown, there will be a wide variety of styles and techniques on display, depending on whose studio you’re in. As a sculptor, for instance, she will be working on a new piece and demonstrating copper fabrications.

Reina, who primarily paints the people and landscapes of Long Island from his studio in Setauket, has two commissions to work on during the tour. He also plans to have samples of his work on display, some of which will be for sale. With a background in teaching, he hopes anybody who might be interested in getting started in painting will come and talk to him about it. For him, having people around while he’s working will be a very welcome change of pace.

“It’s a pretty solitary lifestyle for me,” said Reina. “To get any good work done I have to close the door, put on some good music, and work. But I do like people … you need to have a little bit of a reaction every once in awhile to what you’re doing. It’s no good if it’s just a one-way street. You want people to enjoy [what you’re doing], to see what you’re up to, to comment on it, and to get excited about it.”

Even though purchase of any art piece on sale is encouraged, Brown insists that the main mission of the event is to “create an audience and appreciation” for these community artists. “We would love to see this tour happen on a yearly basis and have it continue to grow,” she said.

Admission is free and refreshments will be served at various studios. For further information, please call 631-834-9036.

All related information about the North Shore Artist Coalition, the Studio Artists and the Artist Open Studio Tour Map may be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NorthShoreArtistCoalition.