Coastal arts events
Sea Glass Expo, artists exhibits
The annual Northeast Sea Glass Expo is back, on Saturday, May 1, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 33 Lafayette Road in North Hampton. This year all kinds of vendors will be on hand selling jewelry and art made from Sea Glass and other natural materials, like The Scrimshaw Workshop, whose jewelry is made from scrimshaw from fossils of walruses and wooly mammoths. In addition, Shelly Peters, author of the children’s book The Sea Glass Treasure, will be on hand for book signings. Admission is $5 at the door, and children under 12 are free. Find the event on Facebook.
Meanwhile, as part of its Body of Work series, the Seacoast Artist Association in Exeter will feature oil paintings by Jim Ryan and watercolors by Lorraine Makhoul throughout the month of May.
Known for his oil paintings of birds of prey, some of which now grace the walls of the new Center for Wildlife facility in York, Maine, Jim Ryan now turns his talent to songbirds. In his new series, “Unexpected Visitors,” Ryan has placed birds seen in his yard into still lifes he designed in his studio. He calls this “a whimsical venture into realism.” Ryan started painting only a few years ago and is mainly self-taught. He works in oils but also uses watercolors, colored pencils, charcoal, graphite, and also enjoys working “en plein air.
“My style is still developing, so I’m still not sure how to classify my art,” he said in a press release. “I guess most would call it contemporary realism. It’s exciting to see it change and develop, and I try not to force it or listen to others tell me where I should go. The artists that have influenced me include Robert Bateman, Andrew Thicshler, David Cheifetz and John James Audubon.”
Lorraine Makhoul has been drawing and painting since she was a child. She has taken a number of art classes but is mostly self-taught. Her new show “Definition in Watercolors” shows her love for detail.
“My watercolors are unique in that they are not ‘loose’ and ‘unstructured,’” she said in the release. “I like detail, color and definition; it just feels right to me.”
Her painting “Fish Shanty I” was awarded First Place in Watercolors at the Newburyport Art Association in their 2018 Fall Members Juried show. As an amateur photographer, Makhoul has a variety of photographs to choose from when she wants to begin a painting.
“If I don’t have a reference photo, I just go out and take one.,” she said.
May hours at the gallery are Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. Call 603-778-8856 for more info or visit seacoastartistassociation.org.
Photo Credit: “Baltimore Oriole” by Jim Ryan