Into The Mystic

Our July exhibit features the work of photographers Ron Caplain, Michael Day, and Sarah Lawhorne, clay artists Paula M. Guida and Rick Martell, and artist RoseAnn LeMaster. The show’s title, Into the Mystic, suggests the ways in which these five artists are inspired by the mystical and magical: from the patterns of the natural universe to the spiritual elements found in daily life.

Longtime DeBlois Gallery member Ron Caplain began as a landscape photographer, and in the 1980s moved into people and street photography, work for which he has won many distinctions. More recently, he has been taking his photography to new levels in printmaking, with monoprints, encaustic, and image transfers. His work in this exhibit features collage techniques juxtaposing images from Japan, printed on Asian papers.

When Caplain and photographer Michael Day realized that they both had spent a lot of time in Japan and had collected images of Japan over the last four or five decades, they decided to show their work together. A wildlife photographer usually more interested in birds, animals, and insects than people, Day took a series of photos of the Jidai Matsuri (Festival of the Ages) in Kyoto Japan in 2022, and noticed, in the light, color, figure, and background of the costumed parade performers, a similarity to the colors, patterns, and shapes of the birds he usually photographed. Also featured will be a collaboration of photographic collages of Caplain’s and Day’s work.

Clay artist Paula M. Guida began working in the medium thirteen years ago after a thirty-year career in education. She produces wheel-thrown work, as well as hand-built slab designs. Her range is wide, from functional pots to more architectural and figurative forms. Through the techniques of carving, texturizing, applique and piercing, as well as a wide range of firing methods, her finished forms are exciting and beautiful. According to Guida, “Nothing about working with clay is entirely predictable and that is part of what makes working with it so exciting.”

Photographer Sarah Lawhorne’s series of photographs represents Taoist and Zen concepts that she tries to live by, including presence, noninterference, simplicity, and harmony. The images are an exploration of spirituality and our relationship to the world in which we live. “Witnessing the Tao in action, even through a photograph, can be eye-opening,” says Lawhorne.

Ink and paint artist RoseAnn LeMaster can’t remember a time when she wasn’t an artist. “Even as a very young child I was passionate about being creative, capable of sitting for hours drawing and painting, losing myself in colors and lines. As I grew up, expressing myself through art continued not only to be a desire but evolved into a necessity as well; It was a natural part of me that had to be nourished and cared for.”

Her recipe for happiness? “Ink, paint, nothing but time. Served deep in thought on a rainy night.”

Clay artist Rick Martell focuses on surface and colors. He says “I like to work clay by stretching and pulling it almost to its breaking point. Round, large forms allow me to use the stretching and pulling process to its fullest. I prefer simple shapes so I have a surface where I can lay on color and glaze in a painterly way. My focus is both wood and Raku firing, which allow me to become more involved with the piece through completion. My pots can be funny with colors light and airy, or serious with colors of the earth’s changes — reds and blacks of volcanoes, white ice of glaciers, the yellow of the sun and the blue of the sea.”

Follow us on social media for specific dates, times, and artists featured in these events.

Website: www.debloisgallery.com 
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The DeBlois Gallery is located at 134 Aquidneck Avenue in Middletown and is open 1-5 PM Wednesday through Sunday. All welcome; ample, free parking!

*DeBlois Gallery will be participating in the Newport Artists Collective Gallery Trolley Tours departing from Perrotti Park (near the Brenton Hotel) on Thursday July 11, 6-8 PM. For more information on stops and times, email debloisgallery@gmail.com.