Saturday and Sunday—May 27-28 —BRIDGEWATER—The Bridgewater Mill Marketplace, in the center of Bridgewater is host to Vermont Spring Artist’s Open Studio.
Open Studio will be free and open to the public, on the first and second floors of the Bridgewater Mill. Dates are May 27 and 28, 2023. Open hours are: Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m.- 5 p.m.
In this Open House, award-winning artist Katie Roberts demonstrates how she creates her unique nature paintings with water-mixable oil paints and describes crafting her trademark live-edge frames.
Guests to the gallery and studio are welcome to shop amongst Roberts’ original paintings, prints and cards, as well as develop ideas for any desired custom artwork. Her paintings are inspired by the native forest areas and wildlife. As a nature artist, Roberts has exhibited in Vermont and New Hampshire, including at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS), Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center,) Equinox Village, The Collective and the Artistree and received the second place award from the Beaver Brook Association, New Hampshire, as well as the People’s Choice and Best Riparian awards from the VINS. Her art has appeared in the Vermont Standard and is found in numerous private and public collections. Her art website is katiejroberts.com.
Roberts explained, “My pieces have a large part of sustainability to them. In addition to being painted with water-mixable oil paints, they are also housed in my live-edge frames, which I design and create with rescued slab wood directly from local saw mills. My prints are on bamboo art paper and my cards are printed on 100% recycled paper.”
Roberts routinely donates a percentage of each sale to wildlife conservation. She states, “Nature can’t communicate its needs; I feel as though my artwork visually speaks for it, that I just pass on the message.”
Roberts is a member of the Artists for Conservation, the world’s leading artist group supporting the environment. The AFC has members in 30 countries, and its mission is to support conservation and environmental education through art that celebrates nature.
Roberts regularly donates worldwide to such wildlife conservation organizations as the Endangered Wildlife Trust, the Vermont Dept. of Fish & Wildlife, the Peregrine Fund, the Born Free Foundation and the American Bird Conservancy.
Also participating in their studios at the Mill are the following Vermont artists:
Schandra Singh, large-scale oil and gauche pieces that illustrate social and political realities: Schandrasingh.com, singhschandra1@gmail.com;
David Crandall, 40-year jewelry designer and crafter of unique, heirloom-quality pieces: crandalljewelry.com, david@crandalljewelry.com, Facebook & Instagram: @David Crandall Jewelry;
Pete Landis, new to the Mill artist, creator of complex social perception collage on metal: cargocollective.com/PeteKL, petekldesign@gmail.com, Instagram: @petelandisart.
To see all 143 participating artists and loops around the state, visit the Vermont Crafts Council at vermontcrafts.com/open-studio-weekend.
