News
Remembering Joyce Decker
We just found out that one of our founding members of VAM passed away in 2021. We are sad for the news.
Joyce Center Decker
(B) 8/22/1924 (D) 9/8/2021
She didn’t beat Grandma Moses (whom she met) in longevity but at 97 she survived most.
Joyce was a fierce individual, an extraordinary artist, a progressive Democrat, a champion of women’s rights, outspoken and stubborn. She remained so for nearly a century.
She was also a teacher, a mother, a sister, an aunt, a grandmother, a great-grandmother and a stickler for proper grammar.
Growing up during the Depression on a dairy farm in Eagle Bridge where she had rabbit for dinner while her parents insisted it was chicken. Where she and her sister tossed their annoying cousin into the pig pen. Illustrations of fashion designs in her diary. Standing at the railroad station in Eagle Bridge with one suitcase waiting for the train that would deposit her in Manhattan where she would attend Pratt Art Institute. She was 17 and had never been there before. Married at 18 in Amarillo, Texas where she illustrated amputated body parts from WWII injuries for a hospital. Becoming a resident of Cambridge, NY. Teaching art, returning to school, returning to school again, having babies and graduating from Skidmore College while pregnant. Founding Valley Artisans, building a kiln in her back yard and living in Cambridge for over fifty years. Moving to Florida, where she continued to create pottery and other art and enjoyed watching beautiful sunsets on the lake behind her house.
Joyce Decker was the kind of person you wouldn’t easily forget and the world seems emptier without her.
Small Works Show Winners!
The Valley Artisans Market SMALL WORKS SHOW WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Thanks for casting your vote during our Small Works show! Here are the winners!
Best in Show: Maude White won first place for “Bluebird” (cut paper)
Honorable Mention: Isaac Semko for “Woman in the Woods” (Wood, Resin, Bronze, Iron, Patina, Epoxy)
Honorable Mention: Karin Vollkommer for “North Hebron” (Acrylic)
People’s Choice: Kevin Mooney for “Lily and Liam” (Acrylic on Wood Panel)
The Valley Artisans Market Small Works Show, open to public entries, attracted a wide range of talented artisans. Choosing winners was a difficult task with so many great pieces to choose from. All winners will receive a monetary prize.
Valley Artisans Market – Open Art Show – Small Works!
Calling all artists!
Valley Artisans Market is hosting an open show to all artists who would like to participate. The theme is “Small Works” and will be presented in the Small Gallery from February 17 – March 14, 2023.
This is an open call for entries; the applicants must be 18 years or older, may submit up to 2 works, and works must be no more than 10″ in any one directions (2 dimensional and 3 dimensional works are welcome).
There will be awards and cash prizes for two categories: “Best in Show” and “People’s Choice” awards. To submit an application, please click here: Apply to Show
Application deadline is February 1, 2023 Apply early… there are a limited number of spaces in our Small Gallery!
Virginia McNeice’s work to be sold
Virginia McNeice, known to us as Jini, was a cherished member at VAM for decades. After her death in 2019, many people were dismayed to know her beautiful art would cease to be created. Her family is now selling her remaining artwork. If you would like to know more, you can read more here: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/The-family-of-Saratoga-landscape-artist-17064795.php.
Petal People Press
Enjoy this time lapse video of member Martha Starke creating her botanical artwork of one of her newest designs, Flower Pedals.
Congrats to Barbara Sarvis!
Congrats to member Barbara Sarvis! Her painting was chosen to be on June June 2021 cover of Adanna : Women and Politics (Special Edition) Founder/Editor, Christine Redman-Waldeyer. Here is what she says about the painting
:
In the winter of 2020, COVID-19 re-introduced me to an unfinished portrait painting hanging on my studio wall. For several weeks, I stared at the woman in the painting while listening to news on the radio. Feelings of rage, sadness and powerlessness overpowered me regarding immigration, systemic racism, climate change, equal rights and a woman’s right to choose.
The young woman in the painting became an Earth Goddess, a protector of all living creatures. I placed her and two birds behind a barbed wire fence restricting their mobility, symbolizing “the power of a few over the lives of the many”. But the bluebirds on her shoulders are unrestricted and can fly free, but choose to be comfortable secure and protected by the Earth Goddess. This reflects the concept of choice, which brings hope that someday the bluebirds will learn to take action and be the source of change, conquering their fears and educating the apathetic to teach equality and justice for all.
Founding member dies
We are sad to announce the loss of former member Anita Witten who passed away on May 19, 2021. She was an artist, political activist, voracious intellectual, language usagerian, enthusiastic railroad traveler and relentless copy editor. She visited Valley Artisans Market regularly and chatted with artist members about their work, providing feedback and critiques for works of all kinds and happily buying our art. We thank her for all her energy and enthusiasm. She will be missed and remembered.
Folklife Center
Corn husk angels
Would you like to see how Bliss McIntosh makes her corn husks angels? Watch here.
Carolyn Favor Kibbe
Con gratulations to member Carolyn Favor Kibbe who has been juried into the National Association of Women Artists. Her painting “Why Painters Love Redheads No. 8” is part of this year’s on-line exhibition of new members’ work. To see the show, look up National Association of Women Artists or go to https://www.thenawa.org/. NAWA was founded in 1889 and is the oldest women’s painting group in the United States, with many famous members through the years.