September 2022 Exhibits

Featured in the Thaler Gallery:

Working Artists Forum.

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

Launched in 1979 by a small group of artists, Working Artists Forum – with over 100 members – is today a thriving arts organization with many vital connections within our arts community. WAF members exhibit widely, win awards, teach classes and workshops, and actively participate in arts events throughout our region. Monthly member meetings promote camaraderie through discussion of upcoming exhibits and a lively demonstration by a well-known guest artist. Our summer juried exhibit Local Color (presented in partnership with the Avalon Foundation’s Plein Air Easton) attracts hundreds of patrons and enjoys excellent sales. Working Artists Forum also presents numerous group shows throughout the year, both on the Eastern Shore and in venues across Maryland/DC. In an effort to support student artists and their teachers, Working Artists Forum donates monies directly to elementary school art teachers for much needed classroom art supplies. Additionally, WAF helps support the Avalon Foundation’s After-School Art Program.

Featured in the Sisson Galleria:

Artwork from Artists Paint OC: Plein Air Event. 50 artists painted outdoors across Ocean City from August 10-14. See the artwork created directly from life and take home a masterpiece.

Click here to see the full exhibition online.

In Studio E:

Laurie Fields.

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

I am intrigued by all kinds of materials and love to imagine how to combine and integrate them into unexpected new patterns, creating new dynamics. Being able to bring together opposites into new relationships and harmonies with each other has always been deeply satisfying. A walk down the aisles of Home Depot can be as inspirational as watching a sunset. A piece of plexiglass, wood, tile or flashing might be the beginning of a new piece as I think of how to merge opposites of matte and gloss finishes, smooth and textured surfaces, geometric and free form images. There is an almost sensual pleasure when I scavenge through collections of used things of all kind- roofing, metal pieces, cabinet doors, sticks, leaves, clay, unfinished artwork- and think of how I can blend them into provocative new visual experiences. After graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Hartford, I started my career as a textile designer in New York City. Two years later I was juried in as a resident artist at the Farmington Valley Arts Center in Avon, Connecticut. I occupied studio 336 at the Torpedo Factory Arts Center in Alexandria, Virginia, where I was a resident artist from 1981- June, 2022. My work is in the collection of the Vanderbilt family, as well as such corporate collections as IBM, General Foods, Hyatt Regency, Westinghouse, Geico and others. It has been published in Cosmopolitan, Designer, Interior Design and Home Entertainment magazines. Over seventy of my images have been published as posters and are distributed worldwide. It is my mission with this website to take the guess work out of the art buying experience. Now you can upload a photograph of your space and try out different artwork to find the perfect piece for your space. You can customize the size, substrate and framing of all the prints to find artwork that is as unique as your vision. Whether it be an original piece or open edition print, you are sure to find the perfect artwork to create unusual, provocative and engaging visual experiences that you will want to look at time and again.

In the Spotlight Gallery:

Wendy Cossman.

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

Wendy Cossman has resided in Potomac, MD for over 40 years and has always been involved with multimedia crafts, painting, and writing. She received her BSN from the University of Michigan in 1977 and practiced Nursing, health care marketing and Health and Wellness. Wendy has studied watercolor for over 30 years, taking classes from Susan Heron, Bonny Lundy at Glen Echo, Dave Daniels at Washington Artworks, Sonia Hunt at Gallery One in Ocean View, DE, Firouzeh Sadeghi, Marie Natale, and Carole Bouville, University of Maryland, and University of Michigan. She has taught art to preschoolers, group lessons at women’s retreats, zoom lessons for WHC and gives private lessons. She has exhibited at The Lombardy Art Gala, Ratner Museum, Julius Bindeman Center, Paintiques in Rehoboth DE, Brookside Gardens, Washington Hebrew Congregation, Glen Echo and Art League of Ocean City as well as private shows. She is a member of the Art League of Ocean City, Strathmore Art Center, the Rehoboth Art League, and Glen Echo. Her art is currently on display at her Potomac MD studio, the Art League of Ocean City, and the Rehoboth Art League. Wendy’s creative style uses vibrant colors, with a creative look at the subject matter using whimsical and impressionistic techniques. She paints an array of subject matter from abstracts, still lives, nature and portraits. She travels throughout the world, and takes inspiration from the places she visits, trying to capture the passion of her vacations. She loves watercolor for the dance of color and paint on the paper and likes to introduce the excitement of unexpected color to add creativity and excitement to her work.

In the Artisan Showcase:

Carla Schaeffer.

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

West Cape May, New Jersey artist Carla Schaeffer's unique found art mosaic floral bouquets, ceramics, and jewelry are a visual illustration of many of the things that make her happiest in life. An avid recycler/re-user/re-claimer, Carla enjoys piecing things together, and takes every opportunity to use vintage materials in her artwork. Her wire crocheted jewelry often incorporates freshwater pearls and shells, which remind her of her long walks by the sea looking for treasures. Her love of gardening and anything floral or botanical is almost always reflected in her mosaic assemblages and ceramic pieces, and she enjoys using bright colors and bold patterns that bring her joy. See more of Carla's artwork at www.flowersfromtheattic.com

Off-Site:

At the Princess Royale Oceanfront, 91st St: Maggii Sarfaty. At the Coffee Beanery, 94th St: Beth Deeley (pictured). Offsite exhibits run through September 2022.

Click here to see a selection of artwork online.

• The Princess Royale satellite gallery, 9100 Coastal Hwy., hosts the artwork of Maggii Sarfaty. Sarfaty is an impressionist painter working in oil and watercolor, capturing the coastal beauty of the Delmarva Peninsula. Born in 1965 in Baltimore Maryland, Maggii has had a lifelong love affair with art. Her artistic Mother and Grandmother encouraged her at a very early age to notice subtleties in light and color in her surroundings. Maggii studied at The Maryland Institute College of Art and began a career as a muralist, decorative painter and part time theatrical set designer. In 2015 Maggii entered her first Plein Air competition winning a prize and selling her painting right off the easel. This small success prompted an immersion into the plein air experience. The joy of painting from life in the open air has been a driving factor in her growth as an artist. Maggii is especially inspired by master impressionists, Mary Cassat, Joaquin Sorolla and Claude Monet. A special thanks goes to her good friend and mentor, Plein Air Easton alumni Diane DuBois Mullaly who invited her to paint regularly with Plein Air Painters of the Chesapeake Bay. An even bigger thanks to my husband Dave for his constant support. Maggii enjoys teaching oil and watercolor at The Academy Art Museum, The Ocean City Center for the Arts and The Dorchester Center for the Arts. She is a member of Plein Air Painters of the Chesapeake Bay, The Working Artists Forum and American Impressionist Society.
• The Coffee Beanery satellite gallery at 94th St. and Coastal Hwy. displays the works of Beth Deeley. Deeley lives in Ocean City and spends several months a year in Costa Rica with her husband Sandy and three dogs. She is a lifetime crafter and student of macrame but found weaving three years ago on the suggestion of a friend and never stopped! “I love color and nature and try to combine the two in my pieces. Each strand, each piece of fabric is a meditation or a thought or a moment in my life. It’s a meditation, a feeling of connection … to a piece. It’s therapy (for me) and probably for other people."