Summer sketches: Artists come out for annual show

MARION — Clouds made from paper towels and boat sails made from pages out of a dictionary. A box of Dunkin’ Donuts with watercolor listed as the only ingredient. A carved sculpture of a bird perched on a tree stump.

All this and more can be seen at the Marion Art Center as part of the center’s annual Summer Members’ Show, which opened on Thursday, Aug. 21.

The show is open to all mediums and themes, with the only requirement being that the artist is a member of the Marion Art Center.

Nearly 70 artists have their work on display, including members’ show returnees and Rochester residents Valerie Farretta, Dale Wallace and Janet Smith-Flaherty.

Farretta has been painting for three and a half years and began participating in members’ shows after a woman she paints with encouraged her to join.

“She was the first one to put a piece in, but I never even really thought about it. And she was [like], ‘Come on, it’s a hoot. You should do it,’” Farretta said.

Farretta, who is currently enrolled in one of the Marion Art Center’s art classes, noted that four or five other people in her class are also participating in the show.

“It’s fun because I went around the room and go, ‘I know the painting. I know when she did that.’” she said.

Farretta submitted a watercolor painting she titled “California Dreamin,’” which was inspired by a picture a friend of hers took while on a hike in California.

“She’s a very good photographer, and I just like it. I thought it was different,” Farretta said.

Smith-Flaherty, who entered a collage called “Boats on the Bay” to the gallery, said she participates in each members’ show to “meet people, to be a part of the art community and tell people about it.”

She noted that the members’ show also gives artists the opportunity to sell their artwork.

With a limit to the number of pieces members can enter into the show, the artists have to make a hard decision when deciding what to submit, which often comes down to which piece the artist thinks has the greatest chance of selling.

Wallace said she chooses her piece to submit by “trying to think of something that would appeal to the type of people that are here, either something in the town or something that stirs up a memory of a place.”

“I chose mine because the other ones that I have sold here have been small scenes looking out at the water,” Smith-Flaherty said.

“You spend a lot of time on it, so it’s so nice looking at it on the wall, and then you come back, hopefully it’s not there,” Smith-Flaherty said, which Wallace said was something that happened to her last year.

“I thought I had had it stolen. And I was like, ‘Uh, Jodi?’ and she’s like, ‘Oh, we sold one of yours,’” she recalled.

Wallace said that she has sold five pieces in members’ shows, most of which were paintings of scenes from the area.

Farretta noted that if someone is interested in being a part of the show they should “come and see it and find out where you fit.”

According to Wallace, the artwork on display comes from artists of all different skill levels and backgrounds who all have different styles.

“I’m sure if someone came and saw everything in the different levels, they’d be like, ‘Oh, okay, I can do that,’” Farretta said.