Java, Juice and
Art Cafe - Main Gallery
Java, Juice and Art Cafe, 125 W. Fourth St., will feature artist Joanne Landis in its Main Gallery. Her exhibition, "Glamourous Women in Paradise," will include works in oil.
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Joanne Landis is seen in her studio at the Pajama Factory, 1307 Park Ave.
There will be an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. during First Friday. The Show will run through Aug. 30.
A native New Yorker for many years, Landis made the move to Troxelville in 1992. She has taught at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, Drexel University in Philadelphia and the New School: Adult Education in New York City.
She is a graduate of the Parsons School of Design. She has worked as a freelance fashion illustrator and her illustrations were published in the New York Times Sunday Magazine section, as well as Women's Wear Daily. Landis recently took a studio space at the Pajama Factory, 1307 Park Ave.
"After being involved in many First Fridays in Williamsport over the years and showing at Lycoming College and meeting many people in the arts and those interested in the arts and striving to make Williamsport a showcase of a small city, I wanted to participate in its growth more fully," she said. "A studio at the Pajama Factory gives me a reason to come here weekly and work in that unique setting, which is a perfect environment for a 25-foot mural that I am currently working on in Studio 22."
Some of her recent shows have been displayed at Penn State University, University Park, Drexel University, Philadelphia, and in 2007, she was awarded a Fellowship at Schloss Pluschow, Mecklenburg, Germany.
Landis also has had her paintings shown in various magazines including Southern Accents, Better Homes and Gardens' "Traditional Home" and Arts and Antique. She has had solo and group shows nationwide since 1977 and more recently in Germany. She has won numerous awards and her work is in many private collections as well as the John Sloan Museum Collection at Lock Haven University and the Ameriprise Collection in California.
Java, Juice and
Art Cafe - Cafe Gallery
Java, Juice and Art Cafe, 125 W. Fourth St., will host an exhibition at the Cafe Gallery by regional pastel artist Jennifer W. Shuey. Her show, "Landscapes of Central Pennsylvania," will open with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. and will run through Aug. 30.
Shuey is the executive director of ClearWater Conservancy of Central Pennsylvania and is a native of Centre County. She received a bachelor's of science degree in landscape architecture from Penn State University. She is particularly interested in conserving the beautiful natural landscapes of central Pennsylvania and engaging more people in the protection of land and water resources.
Her journey into the local arts community started with an oil painting class through the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania. Later at an artist's retreat at Hameau Farm, she borrowed some pastels, experimented with the medium and fell in love with its ability to quickly capture the beauty and character of the landscape.
"Pastels are vibrant and spontaneous, and working with them gives me an almost meditative creative outlet that is a good balance with my work at ClearWater," she said.
She is a member of the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania, the Central Pennsylvania Pastel Society and is the vice-president of the Farmland Preservation Artists of Central Pennsylvania.
She participates in many regional exhibitions throughout the state, believes in giving back to other nonprofit organizations and has donated paintings to raise money for worthy causes, especially those that relate to the land and water resources.
More of her work can be viewed at JenniferShueyArt.247Exhibits.com.
Julie's Coffee
Julie's Coffee, 33 W. Third St., will host "My Yard in Full Bloom," an exhibition by artist Marilyn Seeling. There will be an opening reception from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday and the show will run through Aug. 29.
Seeling, a native of Williamsport, has loved art since she was young. She is a graduate of Penn State University and has a bachelor's degree in art education. She has taught in public schools and after school programs at the YWCA. She also has volunteered for senior centers in Williamsport. She enjoys inspiring others through her art.
"I generally produce my art quickly and I enjoy figuring out how a painting can be improved upon and how to produce a desired effect in polymer clay or, more recently, what recycled materials to use for a sculpture, which I find great fun," she said. "My husband Dave and I have a farm in Trout Run. The paintings for this show were inspired from the perennial flowers around the farm. I love color and design and enjoy the relationship between different flowers growing near one another. I paint loosely and enjoy the process. Painting in oils is a recent renewed interest and using oils, watercolor with some added pencil highlights, or acrylics is how I express the flowers in my recent paintings."
Gustonian Gifts
Four artists, Donna Howey, Michael Bennett, Angela Kaiser and Debra Morris, will have creations on display at Gustonian Gifts, 357 Pine St., for First Friday. Isaiah Britton will perform live music.
Howey is drawn to the beauty and wonder of the natural world because she always has been deeply immersed in the outdoors - her father is a wildlife conservation officer and her mother is a master gardener.
While all of nature is captivating to Howey, she is most fond of the wildflowers found in the Northeast, especially the blooms that are frequently unobserved.
"To find an unfamiliar petal that is growing beneath the grasses or on a hillside, almost completely concealed by leaves, twigs and other plant life, is so thrilling ... especially when it is a species that I have not previously met!" she said.
With her camera, she longs to capture and share the artistry is that often unnoticed in the outdoors.
Using some of her photos, Howey will produce an image in black and white or in sepia tone and hand-tint the subject with oil hues, creating a vintage-style piece.
Howey's work is offered in four artisan shops in the central Pennsylvania region and also on line at www.donnahowey.com.
Bennett is a metal fabricator who has made chainmaille armor since 1999. Four years later, he began making jewelry with the same ancient art of the chainmaille, but adding a contemporary style to create his own unique designs. Bennett fabricates all the rings for his pieces in metals such as gold, silver, stainless steel, titanium, copper and brass.
His craftsmanship and attention to detail are evident in every piece he makes and the designs are meant to compliment a unique style and personality. Bennett lives in South williamsport with his wife and two sons. The jewelry marketed under his Black Dragon Metals brand name is showcased in multiple stores throughout the Northeast.
When Britton's childhood friends began receiving electric guitars on birthdays and at Christmas, he was compelled to follow suit. He received an electric guitar from his parents, though ultimately he yearned for an acoustic.
And while attending college in the south, he found classmates immersed in folk, bluegrass and Appalachia-roots music and he embraced the culture, broadening his musical influences and solidifying his partiality for the acoustic guitar.
"I was initially drawn to the acoustic [guitar] due to the relative ease with which I could decipher individual notes in songs I was learning," he said. "While that still holds true, I've come to find that my acoustic better lends itself to solo performances and requires of me greater practice, as the clean tone leaves my errors nowhere to hide."
Britton's undiscriminating receptiveness to fellow music lovers' suggestions has seen his interests come to encompass jazz, blues, psychedelic, punk rock and everything in between. He said it is his pleasure to share his personal interpretations with others.
With a fresh perspective, Kaiser and Morris use materials such as leather, hemp, silver, glass and semi-precious gemstones and wood beads to create funky, earthy, fun to wear designs.
Morris has been a resident of the Williamsport area for 11 years. She is a college English professor who recently has taken up jewelry design as a hobby. While she loves creating her own designs, she welcomes the opportunity to custom design jewelry for her clients.
Kaiser grew up in Williamsport. She has worked in the health care arena all of her adult life in a variety of capacities and continues to do so. She is inspired by nature and loves to work with the inherent beauty of irregularly shaped stones.
While Morris and Kaiser have shared their designs with family and friends, they feel it is time to share them with the community.
James V. Brown
Library
The James V. Brown Library presents pencil and charcoal artist Amanda M. Emig, along with a few of her private art students for First Friday.
Emig is employed as the promotions manager-graphic artist at the James V. Brown Library and owner of Wildwood Graphic Design and WistART Studio. She demonstrates her talents in more ways than one, from graphic design to teaching.
Her passion for wildlife is the focus of her sketches and she brings the realism of color back to the simplicity of black and white. Her ability to help students recognize shapes, texture and shading in what they are drawing makes all of their works reflect a realistic quality.
Emig and her students will display their work from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday in the Rotunda Room of the library.
For more information, visit www.jvbrown.edu or call the library at 326-0536.
Collegetown Gallery
The Collegetown Gallery at the Community Arts Center, 220 W. Fourth St., will host Becky Reiser, with an exhibit of 2-D and 3-D works.
Reiser is finishing a master of fine arts, sculpture and has exhibited her art since 2004. Reiser was nominated for International Sculpture Center Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture. Her goal is to create work that keeps her and her viewers guessing.
Reiser is the director of the Public Art Academy's Artist-in-Residence program and assistant building manager of The Pajama Factory.
The opening exhibit is in the lobby of The CAC from 6 to 9 p.m., Friday.
Pajama Factory
The Pajama Factory has opened a new wing of studios and invites the public to attend a complex-wide open house from 5 to 9 p.m. First Friday.
The public is welcome to view studios, meet tenants and experience the creative community that so many are calling "home."
A few of the featured First Friday events are:
Justin Lutz and DJ Omegalypse will play music for the event.
Rocco's Restaurant, 1164 W. Fourth St., will provide food samples.
"Photographers at Work" will be on display in studios 15 and 16. The exhibition features four professional photographers, including Ralph Wilson, Stephanie Carey, Gordon Wenzel and Jim O'Connell.
The factory's new darkroom, "Keep Me in the Dark," will be open in studio 6.
Free chair massages will be given in studio 7 at Chelsea Karaban Massage.
Visitors may sign up for watercolor classes in studio No. 48 with artist Steve Bower.
For more information, visit www.pajamafactory.net or call Jen Rixey at 323-7650.
