Organized by Susan Ann Thornton, the annual Artists Tour of Cherry Grove, where painters, photographers, sculptors, and others display recent work at their homes, took place on June 9 and 10. This year’s event kicked off at the Community House, on June 8, with a Silent Auction of pieces donated by the artists and benefiting the Dune Fund, and according to Susan Ann, more than $2,000 was raised.
Seventeen artists participated in the tour and I visited with and talked with most of them about their art. At Casita, Susan Ann showed her paintings, ‘evocative seascapes,’ many of them new works and some already sold when I saw them. Uzi Parness displayed his Nature photos, many of them taken in the Grove last year. Michael Abdis presented his stained glass, some incorporating Grove seashells. W. Douglas Topper’s exhibit was of his oil paintings, including human and animal figures and Fire Island beach glass. Bill Hirt showed the Christmas ornaments that he created, using beach glass.
At Roseland, Michael Fitzgerald showed me his newest mixed media efforts. Martinu Schneegass showed his new, colorful beach towels, combining fractals and photography, using sublimation printing, with the intent of “bringing science and Nature … back into harmony.” My neighbor Aronda Xystris displayed her photos and paintings of Cherry Grove.
At Liberty Bell, Dan Evans displayed his Fire Island landscape paintings and Jim Kelly-Evans, his aerial photos, taken using a legal drone. Mark Atten explained that, in his wood-and-glass sculptures, he uses both tumbled pieces of stained glass and found beach glass. Bob Lerch showed his photographs of Cherry Grove in the snow, something most of us have not experienced, and was pleased to have sold some of them immediately. Finally, Warren Boyd Wexler offered a display of his Fire Island Nature photography, including “Fox Cubs,” a favorite.
Some of the artists displayed their work on just one day of the tour and one was unable to be here at all during the weekend. The artists, whose work I missed seeing, were painters Patrick Loy and Rosana Chinchilla and photographers Koitz and Mitt Jons.