With near-perfect weather for a drive around the countryside, the 15th annual Saugerties Artists’ Studio Tour drew hundreds of visitors last weekend. The 38 artists on the tour opened their studios and discussed their work with the visitors. The art was on sale.
The tour started with a reception at Opus 40, the five-acre sculpture created by the late Harvey Fite. Fite’s stepson, Tad Richards, presided over the evening’s event. Many of the artists were on hand. At the reception, each displayed a work on the walls, on pedestals or in the case of large sculptures on the floor.
The self-guided tour was organized by Barbara Bravo, with maps available from many local merchants. There wass no charge. The artists were for the most part happy to discuss their work. The tour was an excellent way to learn what motivates artists and what generates their ideas.
Barbara Tepper-Levy reported that she had over 100 sign-ins, and since not everyone signed in quite a few more in total. Her studio, a large room in her house, held displays of silver jewelry with precious and semi-precious stones, collages, pottery and some painting “but not much.”
Pru See said she was becoming so upset about “the state of the earth and the way the earth is being used” that she decided to bring out some of her older paintings of nature. She has also combined short poems of prayers to the earth with her images to create small cards. She also set up a series small paintings from a vacation in the Cotswolds last year.
Ulf Loven is using the many small paintings he did in his early days as an artist as the basis for much larger works. These were not copies, he explained, but they were inspired by the work he did in his younger days. He has built a large studio onto his home, and has a second, open-air studio behind it.
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