On June 12 and 13, organizer Susan Ann Thornton’s Artist Tour of Cherry Grove, which had been virtual in 2020, returned as an in-person tour, giving us a chance to visit with the artists, discuss their work with them, and photograph them for the press. Contributors to the tour were painters, photographers, ceramicists, sculptors, and those who work in glass and fabrics. The night before the start of the tour, the artists held a Silent Art Auction at the Community House, which raised $4,950 for the Cherry Grove Dune Fund.
At Dune Point, Petra Brehl displayed her clay pottery and welder Rick Dulvas posed with his steel sculpture and with the hotel, which reflects most of his work. My neighbor Aronda Xystris showed her paintings of the ocean and the exterior of Belvedere and her photos of the Fourth of July Invasion of the Pines. Bill Hirt was on hand with his Christmas ornaments, which incorporate beach glass and sea shells. Mark Atten offered what he called “my winter project,” wooden boxes and planters. At Liberty Bell, Dan Evans exhibited his paintings of Cherry Grove and Sailors Haven and Jim Kelly-Evans, his aerial photos of the Grove, legally taken with drone.
Rosana Chinchilla shared her paintings of shellfish, paintings on seashells, and miniatures on magnets. Koitz’s photos were of men, mostly nude, but also in fancy dress, and there were also two “Pretty Gay” books of postcards of them, as well as his book “Gay Fire Island: It’s Good to Be Us.” Nature photographer Warren Boyd Wexler showed me his wonderful photo of a deer and his shadow and recounted horrifying stories of the Fire Island National Seashore Rangers culling the deer herd, using bait and a professional marksman.
At the Green House, Mike Turci and John Mansueto displayed their acrylic paintings and next door, first timer Sammy Soto pointed out the one painting that he brought, that of a palm tree emerging from patches of color and his colored pencil drawings, including one of a human heart, pierced by Cupid’s arrow. Michael Fitzgerald showed off his mixed media works. At first timer Nickolas D’Annunzio’s home, his acrylic painting of butterflies first caught my eye, and next were his embroidered self-portraits, on fabric that had belonged to his grandmother.
Prominent in Lorraine Michels’ display, beside her books “Celebrating the Heart of Cherry Grove: the Community House 1948-1913” and “The Invasion of the Pines: 40 Years of Fun, Frolic & Fantasy,” was her photo, for the cover of Fire Island Tide, of Homecoming Queen 2016 Logan Hardcore, weeping rainbow tears for those slain at Pulse, the gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, which happened exactly five years ago. Michael Abdis showed me three of his stained-glass panels, displayed in his window. Diane Quero’s work used brown paper, tracing paper, and masking tape. Newcomer Natalia Cardenas explained that the lockdown found her “connecting with my art,” mixed media on canvas, depicting house and home.
Former ‘Cagelle’ Patrick Loy’s “Cherrygrovescapes” paintings were of vegetation, wild and tamed, and a Cherry Grove sunset. Ceramicist and Artist Tour first timer Alex White posed for a photo with a bowl whose design was inspired by the dune fencing. And Susan Ann’s newest landscapes and seascapes were, she told me, in acrylics and oils on canvas and gessoboard. Some of her work can be found in her new book of paintings “Atmospheres” Fire Island, Cherry Grove.” The one artist whose work I did not have the opportunity to see this year was Diane St. Pierre, whose works are painted rocks and crystal sun-catchers.

photo captions & credit:
1. Petra Brehl & her pottery
2. welder Rick Dulvas & his sculpture & Dune Point
3. Aronda Xystris & her paintings
4. Bill Hirt & Christmas ornaments
5. Mark Atten & his wooden "winter project"
6. Dan Evans & paintings
7. Jim Kelly-Evans & aerial photography
8. Rosana Chinchilla & paintings
9. Warren Boyd Wexler holding "Deer & Shadow"
10. Koitz & his photos
11. Mike Turci & John Mansueto & acrylics
12. Sam Soto & painting & drawings
13. Michael Fitzgerald & his abstracts
14. Lorraine Michels & photo of Queen Logan Hardcore shedding rainbow tears for those slain at Pulse Nightclub
15. Nickolas D'Annunzio & embroidered self-portraits on fabric
16. Michael Abdis & stained glass
17. Diane Quero & her work
18. Natalia Cardenas & her work
19. Patrick Loy & paintings
20. Alex White holding ceramic bowl
21. tour organizer Susan Ann Thornton & her landscapes & seascapes
photos by Bruce-Michael Gelbert