The Catskill Chronicle

By Carol Montana

The five ladies met about five years ago when they were taking a Digital Publishing class at the Catskill Art Society, still located, at the time, in Hurleyville. Mary Collier, Caroline Harrow, Ginger Smith, Gloria Wagenknecht and Evelyn Porter. The ladies bonded and began to learn from each other, developing a friendship.

Then, when the Catskill Art Society moved to Livingston Manor, The Forum Friends, as they now called themselves, decided to continue to meet at each other’s houses. “We got together, we would have something to eat, we would share our work with each other,” says Wagenknecht, “and we came up with assignments. We would try to meet about once a month.”

Shortly before she passed away, Evelyn Porter said, “I don’t think you ladies have enough exposure, what do you think about having a show?” Wagenknecht says a couple of them were shocked. “We had never done anything like this before. It was Evi who saw the best in us and wanted to bring it out. She was terrific.”

The result of the ladies’ work – Broad Spectrum – is on exhibit at the Old Stone House in Hasbrouck until the end of September. “We were trying to come up with a name and having a difficult time with it,” says Wagenknecht, “It is a broad spectrum, we have watercolor, encaustic, photography, and Evi’s work, some of which is in pencil. And, of course, we’re all women, so I thought there’s also a play on words …”

Wagenknecht is from Loch Sheldrake and her medium of choice is photography. “It gives me an opportunity to be exceptionally creative, and I don’t think I have the ability to do that with my own hands. I can see something that I love … and take a picture and I work with Adobe Photoshop. I try not to do too much manipulating because I like to keep things as natural as possible, but I am able to bring out the very, very best in what I’ve seen and I love it.”

Ginger Smith is a photographer, but she also works with encaustics, which means painting with hot wax. “You melt the wax, you apply it and then you use heat to fuse it to the surface,” says Smith, who goes on to explain that encaustic is a very ancient medium. “The ancient Greeks used it to seal their ships, and it was also were used to decorate sarcophagi, some of which are still in existence.”

Smith uses a handmade wax that’s made in Kingston. Its composition is beeswax, a resin and a pigment. The artwork doesn’t need sealing, and after being cured for about six months, they can actually be buffed with a soft cloth to a shine. “The thing I like about encaustics,” says Smith, “is that I can’t be tight, you put the color on and the wax will move differently depending on the color … it has a life of its own, all I can do is guide it.

Also a photographer, Smith loves digital photography because, “I can see it right away, I can crop it. And so I was fascinated by extreme close-ups of flowers.”

Mary Collier is a retired science teacher, and possibly because of that, looks for the play of light on colorful subjects. How very appropriate during this 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, that her photograph of a colorfully painted school bus is reminiscent of the Woodstock bus.

Painting barns and still-life scenes is what drives Caroline Harrow. Originally she delved into black and white photography, but found her true love a few years ago when she picked up a paintbrush to depict simpler times.

The Forum Friends consider Evelyn Porter to be not only their friend, but their mentor. The handout at their exhibit says of Porter, “Her philosophy of art showed us that change in synonymous with growth … with the freedom to investigate new media and experiment with a variety of techniques and styles.”

And so, The Forum Friends continue to meet, to “network, support, encourage, inspire and nurture each other’s desire to create what each sees through different eyes and emotional ties.” Indeed, isn’t that what all good friends do?

Broad Spectrum continues on exhibit at The Old Stone House, 282 Hasbrouck Road, Woodbourne through September 27. Gallery hours: Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment. Call 439-5867 or 583-1060 for more information.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from Broad Spectrum visit the The Catskill Chronicle on Zenfolio.