“Air Mail: Postcards From Oz”: @ RiverWinds Gallery November 9 – December 8

BEACON — Connecting artists halfway around the globe in a postcard exchange, RiverWinds Gallery at 172 Main Street, Beacon, NY is debuting its Holiday Show with “Air Mail: Artist Postcards from Oz” (in particular, North East Artisans (NEA) in Benalla, New Victoria, Australia). Concurrently, Postcards from the Hudson Valley — from 30 Hudson Valley artists – having been shown in 2 exhibitions in Benalla, is being exhibited in New South Wales, Australia at the White Waratah Workshop Studio in Balmoral Village. Each artist postcard -6”x8” - has been individually painted/drawn/constructed in a variety of styles and medium: photography, watercolor, acrylic, collage, woodcut, intaglio, pencil drawing, fiber. (Eventually, the Hudson Valley postcards will come home for a show at RiverWinds.) The Holiday Show Opening is November 9, from 6-9 p.m. The postcard show runs through December 8, 2019.

It’s all about artist-to-artist connections. Earlier this year, Mary Ann Glass, one of the owners of RiverWinds Gallery in Beacon, was going to Australia to co-teach phone apps with a printmaker. As she was already going half-way around the world, an Australian artist, Elizabeth Atkin, she had met at a workshop in Greece (are you following all this lol) suggested an artist postcard exchange. So Mary Ann put out a call for 6x8 postcards from Hudson Valley artists, to be shown in Australia. In March she packed her bags with 32 handmade postcards and flew off the Australia.

While there, she reconnected with Irina Korotkow, an Australian artist she had met during one of Basha Maryanska’s International Artists Residencies in Beacon. Irina Korotkow belongs to the NEA, an artist coop in Benalla, New Victoria, Australia. Owing to her enthusiasm and hard work, in June, NEA showed the Postcards from the Hudson Valley in their gallery. (www.northeastartisans.org). In September, the show was expanded: NEA artists responded to the Hudson Valley postcards in a joint show, titled “Bon Voyage,” featuring postcards from both groups. Now the NEA Australian artist postcards are being shown at RiverWinds in Beacon. According to Simon Klose, the NEA Exhibitions Coordinator: “When they hit New York, crowded onto the gallery walls, telling their story to anyone who will look, I think the message will be loud and clear. Energy, invention, directness and a staggering diversity of image and subject…Look out New York!” The artist postcards are for sale: $45 each.

And the Postcards from the Hudson Valley are by no means ready to come home just yet! They are being given yet another exhibit, during the Southern Highlands Art Studio Trail at Elizabeth Atkin’s White Waratah Workshop Studio in Balmoral Village, New South Wales, Australia. The studio will be open the weekends of November 2-3 and November 9-10. www.shaf.com.au.

About RiverWinds Gallery

RiverWinds Gallery opened its doors in July 2003, more than 16 years ago. Voted twice Best Gallery in the Hudson Valley, it is a multi-faceted art space featuring over 50 of the finest Hudson Valley artists; fine art including paintings, sculpture and photography, and contemporary crafts, including jewelry, glasswork, cards, and pottery. RiverWinds Gallery, LLC, is a member of the Beacon Arts Community Association (BeaconArts) www.beaconarts.org.

Location: RiverWinds Gallery, 172 Main Street, Beacon, NY 12508, 845-838-2880.

Website: www.riverwindsgallery.com

Hours: Mon/Wed 12-4, Thurs/Sun 12-5, Fri/Sat 12-6, 12-9 2nd Saturdays