LARACAs It Was, August 15 – September 17

Glens Falls, N.Y. – The Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council (LARAC) presents Show VI: As It Was, featuring artists Rena Bernstein and Ann Larsen. The exhibit runs from August 15 to September 17, with an opening reception celebrated on Friday, August 15, 5-7pm, all are invited to this free event.

Although subject matter, inspiration and stylistic approaches differ greatly between the two artists on exhibit, both explore their motifs with expressive painterly brush strokes and confident, strong mark-making. On Thursday, August 21, 4-6pm, exhibiting artist Ann Larsen will demonstrate how she creates her impressionistic landscape paintings in oil, covering composition, block in of shapes and color, and her signature mark-making and brush strokes. This drop-in event is free and open to the public as well.

Ann Larsen is a nationally known artist who paints both en plein air and in her studio in Northville, NY. Her impressionistic style is immediately recognizable and her paintings have been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the US. She has won many awards in major exhibitions, including Second Place in the 25th National American Impressionist Society Exhibition, Awards of Excellence in Oil Painters of America-Eastern Regional, Silver Medal – Masters in American Women Artists exhibit in Scottsdale AZ, to mention a few. As a master plein air painter, she is frequently invited to large Plein Air events and to conduct workshops all over the country.

Rena Bernstein’s expressive paintings and drawings demonstrate strong composition and emotive qualities. A Holocaust survivor, Rena came to the US in 1947 at 9 years old and as a young adult, studied art at Cooper Union, went on to receive a degree in Art Education from Fordham University at Lincoln Center and a Masters in Learning Disabilities from Columbia. Unable to create her own work for years due to the effects of war in her childhood, in recent years the artist has freed herself enough from the past to be able to draw and paint again. Her body of work in this exhibit is touched by her life experiences, intuitively pulling from within.

Located at 7 Lapham Place in downtown Glens Falls, NY, LARAC’s Lapham Gallery is open Monday-Saturday 10-3, Thursdays to 6pm. To learn more, visit www.larac.org.

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