Canal Frame-Crafts in Washington Crossing, Pa., hosts a juried exhibit of art inspired by the Delaware Canal.
By: Jodi Thompson
In 1887, Louis Comfort Tiffany, artist son of Charles Lewis Tiffany of silver and jewelry fame, took his brand-new camera with him during an expedition along the Delaware Canal.
At the suggestion of his friend, Thomas Edison, the younger Tiffany began to create lamps reflecting the celebrated beauty of his stained-glass windows. He incorporated his love of nature into these lamps in the form of spider webs, dragonflies and blossoms. Perhaps some of the wonderful sights he photographed along the Delaware Canal are immortalized in his famous Tiffany lamps.
The canal as muse is not exclusive to Tiffany. Scores of famous and nearly famous artists have expressed the sights along the canal in one creative aspect or another. The New Hope School depicted the canal in impressionistic oils and watercolors. Artists today photograph, paint, sculpt and even fashion stained glass to reflect the bridges, locks, flora and fauna along the banks of this National Historic Landmark.
In celebration of this heritage, Canal Frame-Crafts in Washington Crossing, Pa., is hosting a juried exhibition of two- and three-dimensional images inspired by the Delaware Canal through May 25, with an opening reception May 5. A portion of proceeds from Canal Impressions 2002 will benefit The Friends of the Delaware Canal, an independent, non-profit organization working to restore, preserve and improve the canal.
"This seemed to be a wonderful opportunity for current artists to report their ideas of the Delaware Canal," says Susan Taylor, executive director of Friends of the Delaware Canal. "The Friends were especially receptive to the idea in that the canal has always been an inspiration to artists over the years."
For Canal Frame-Crafts owner Debbie Crow, the show is a chance to support a cause in which she believes. As a member of the Upper Makefield Historical Society, Ms. Crow knows the importance of efforts to preserve the historical and aesthetic beauty of Bucks County, Pa. A benefit exhibition is her way of supporting those causes that help in that effort.
For Canal Impressions 2002, she determined that the entries in the juried show must relate to the Delaware Canal or appropriate flora and fauna.
"We didn’t want to limit it to just landscapes of the canal," Ms. Crow says. "If it was definitely and distinctly the wrong canal, like it had the wrong type of bridge, definite, distinct river scene, not canal, not directly related to the canal (it was ruled out). There were a few (entered pieces) that got bumped because of that."
This is the benefit’s inaugural year, with 61 pieces of artwork entered, only half selected to be shown. Two pieces in the show are by the two jurors: "Morning Walk," a watercolor by Bensalem resident Gail Bracegirdle, and "Eastern Painted Turtle," a stained glass piece by Penns Park, Pa., resident Kim Kurki. The juror’s artwork reflects the show’s varied media and subject matter. The 26 artists from all over Pennsylvania and New Jersey chose to depict landscapes and still lifes in watercolor, pastel, oil, charcoal and acrylic. There are photographs, both black-and-white and color, as well as collographs a type of print incorporating three-dimensional items.
The show includes several sculptures, such as a green heron carved from wood and painted in acrylic.
Ms. Taylor, with her expertise on all things canal, held veto power during the jurying process. A number of wonderful works were rejected because they didn’t depict the canal or its surroundings.
A stained-glass panel is a modern twist on Tiffany and definitely depicts something found near the canal. Ms. Kurki, an illustrator for more than 20 years, has painted a "painted turtle" onto glass using ground pigment suspended in clove oil. The process smells wonderful, she assures, but the ink stays wet to the touch until the painted glass is fired in a kiln, such as the kind used in firing ceramics. She chooses the remaining glass pieces, which are cut and assembled by her husband, Bill Osler. The couple owns Osler-Kurki Studio in Penns Park.
Ms. Bracegirdle, co-juror with Ms. Kurki, has provided a more traditional depiction of the canal. It is a soft, yet vibrant watercolor of a camelback bridge. Ms. Taylor says the bridge in the painting can be recognized as a recent reproduction, because the deck is much thicker than the original bridges. The painting, however, is original. Ms. Bracegirdle teaches at Trenton’s Artworks and at Triangle Art Center in Lawrenceville.
"She’s probably one of the more visible artists I know," Ms. Kurki says of her colleague. "I know a lot of artists and some of them, they hole up in their studios. They enter shows now and then. People that are on the forefront, that are always out there are Gail and a few others I know."
Sixteen of the 26 artists involved in this show are new to Ms. Crow and her gallery. A juried show allows her to broaden her interaction with artists, as well as get the artists excited about entering. Ms. Taylor will choose the winner of the special award from the canal friends.
The work to decide on the entries was easy, considering the criteria. Jurors Kurki and Bracegirdle agreed on nearly every piece of art.
"It was pretty clear when we went through the whole group which ones were actually good enough and which ones weren’t going to make it," Ms. Kurki says. "It’s a quality group of work that represents an important subject matter and it also benefits a good organization."
Ms. Kurki says the genres range from impressionism to representational work. She finds it interesting to see the different visions that people have of the canal. The majority of the pieces in the show are not landscapes, she says. There are varied genre, subjects and media represented in the exhibition.
"Coming here could be a really nice day out," says Ms. Taylor. "You could just go up and get right on the towpath and take a nice walk along the canal. See the real thing and then come down here and see the exhibit and see how people have depicted what you’ve just seen in person."
Canal Impressions 2002 will be at Canal Frame-Crafts, 1093 General Greene Road, Washington Crossing, Pa., May 5-25. Opening reception: May 5, 1-4 p.m. Gallery hours: Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Thurs. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. For information, call (215) 493-3660.