Trending
Elody Gyekis, resident artist at the Green Drake Gallery and Arts Center in Millheim, leads a weekly art class on Tuesdays at Chef Hosch & Ann Catering, 414 W. Fourth St.
After earning her bachelor's degree in painting and ceramics from Penn State, Gyekis began her professional career as an artist.
She has been a community arts organizer and muralist for nine murals in State College, Harrisburg, Williamsport and Huntingdon, in addition to working on various other community art projects in other locations, such as Toms River, New Jersey and the Dominican Republic.
She currently is the lead artist on the "Book Benches of Centre County" public art project.
Gyekis's work, which includes painting, drawing and sculpture, has been exhibited in many places, including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Tuscon, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Additionally, her work has been in shows or private collections in Romania, Germany, England, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Brazil, China and Canada.
A regular traveler, Gyekis now splits her time between living in Pennsylvania and Central America.
She spent the summer of 2014 completing an artist residency in Sibiu, Romania. She taught an intensive painting workshop as part of an artist residency in Costa Rica in 2015 and in Honduras in 2016.
"Art Tuesdays began for me in Lewisburg about 7 years ago," explained Gyekis. "An incredible group of women artists, including Ann House, who were already meeting asked me if I would be interested in replacing their previous teacher."
The group always met on Tuesdays, and recently House proposed the idea of moving the class to Williamsport, and opened the class up to the space available in her and her husband's catering business on Fourth Street. Because of the increased space, the group is able to expand to include more people.
"Our group is about creating a safe space to learn and grow as artists and people through creative expression and skill-based learning while getting to know and supporting each other," added Gyekis.
Gyekis helps to guide artists through the creative process of their ideas. "Once someone has expressed interest in the class, and are on my email list, they get an email announcement about each particular class, what it will be and what to bring," said Gyekis. "Classes are usually painting classes but are sometimes drawing classes."
The classes begin with a lesson and demonstration from Gyekis, followed by an exercise for the students. "Then the rest of the time is for everyone to paint or draw, working on a project that somehow applies the lesson that we just learned," said Gyekis. The class also "allows for creativity and choice in subject matter."
"One class I talked about color and color mixing, we did a color mixing and matching exercise, and then everyone worked on paintings from photographs of their choice in which the focus was hue (color)," explained Gyekis.
"Another lesson was on portraits in which I did a demonstration of the proportions of a face, then we all did a sketch of a face together, making up anatomically correct human face, then we all drew or painted a portrait from a photograph."
"The focus of the class is to do lessons on fairly traditional artistic skills, and then use those skills and apply them to whatever creative means or style that we prefer to work in," said Gyekis.
Artists of all experience levels are welcome at Art Tuesdays. "The class is suited to both beginners and fairly experienced artists. All of my lessons are designed so that you can get something out of it as a beginner or as a refresher to learn more as someone with more experience. As artists we can always improve and benefit from practice and exercises, even I learn and benefit and improve just by demonstrating my own lessons," said Gyekis.
Gyekis presents her first major show in Williamsport at Gallery 425, opening on the First Friday of May, May 5.
"The show is titled 'do not reveal me' and will feature intimate portraits of women and the intersection of their lives and mythology," she said.
Gyekis plans to move to NYC in September to begin her studies at the New York Academy of the Arts to get her master's degree.
Art Tuesdays will be held from noon until 3 p.m. May 2 and 9. There is a cost for the class.
For more information or to sign up, email Gyekis at elodyg@gmail.com.