BY LINDA DeNICOLA
Staff Writer
Inspiring art works by six New Jersey-based artists explore the spiritual side of life.
According to Jeff Clapp, who organized the exhibit, “Igniting the Light Within” celebrates the spirit within each of us.
The new show, opening at the Art Alliance Saturday, fuses together three concepts: art, spirituality and community. It will feature the works of artists who tackled the concept of spiritual inspiration in a multitude of art forms from watercolor to photography to paint and sculpture.
Besides Red Bank resident Clapp, who works in water color/acrylics, and his wife, Donna, a photographer, the other artists are Jamesburg resident Teddy Ehmann, gauche, oils and acrylics; Middletown resident Nanci Hersh, mixed media; Woodbridge resident Glenn Murgacz, steel sculpture; and Brick resident Donna Roettger, a watercolor landscape artist.
Jeff Clapp said he is inspired by people who go for their dreams and are not stopped by circumstances or what other people say about them. This show is a way to empower artists like himself and his wife to risk themselves.
“I wanted nothing more than to empower others in whatever it is for them that they want,” he said.
Clapp took a risk with this show. He has been painting with watercolor for 17 years, but for this show he broke out of his comfort zone and tried acrylics for the first time.
“It was a natural switch, as they both share many similar properties, but I can get more out of acrylics and push them farther than I could with watercolor, and I love that,” he said. “It is a whole new adventure unfolding and I look forward to seeing what comes of it.”
Donna Clapp said she has been inspired by her husband.
“Honestly, I would never have discovered my photographic talent without him. I really started taking photos specifically as reference for Jeff to paint from. Once I started looking at the world through his eyes, suddenly my photos became more than snapshots. Suddenly they were art.”
She added that she is also inspired by people. “That’s why so many of my pictures are photos of people from around the world. I feel that a place is just a place, no matter how beautiful, without the people who live there.”
Ehmann said he is inspired by nature, sex and the spirit worlds. His medium of choice is any opaque painting medium. He said being an artist “has been both the greatest blessing as well as the greatest curse.”
Hersh has exhibited in Japan, Australia and throughout the United States.
Her etching and aquatint “Chrysalis 2” was selected as the image to represent the annual “Art of Survival” exhibit by women artists who have been touched by breast cancer.
Murgacz said he works with steel because he likes its strength and its permanence, and he has always been drawn to metal sculpture.
“I saw a tiny abstract metal sculpture in a window garden in Greenwich Village in the 1960s and always thought that I would love to be able to create something like that,” he said. “In 1993 I saw an ad in my local paper for an oxyacetylene welding outfit for sale. I bought it and taught myself to weld, and I’ve been enjoying the rush of creativity ever since.”
Roettger said she began taking watercolor lessons when she was 16 years old. After many detours and real-life lessons, she took up the paint brush again.
“I am connected to my environment most when I am observing the magic that happens when sunlight embraces the forms that exist in this world,” she explained.
“I find it to be a humbling experience to even attempt to re-create what I see. Nonetheless, I find myself driven to share my vision with others, trying to capture moments in time. I love this planet and all it has to offer. I find it to be an enchanted place, forever changing, unfolding, and always inspiring.”
The exhibit runs until July 18 at the Art Alliance, 33 Monmouth St., Red Bank.
An opening reception will be held Saturday, July 7, from 6-10 p.m. Other special dates include Saturday, July 14, noon-10 p.m. during the Red Bank Art Walk.
Regular exhibition hours are Thursday and Friday 7-10 p.m., Saturday 6-10 p.m., and Sunday noon to 4 p.m.
For show information, call (732) 859-7637.