The fun and beauty of art is unmistakable the moment you walk through the front door of The Inn at Harbor Shores with the sweeping staircase and amazing glass sculpture installation on full display before you, but there's far more to the presentation than that. The mezzanine gallery is always vibrant with new art being showcased and the Inn is currently preparing for their 9th Local Artist Exhibition and Reception later this month.
Beginning September 23rd, "Sky Pads — Water Lily Interpretations by Alli Farkas" will take up residence in the gallery space to be shared throughout the fall and into winter running through January 16, 2017. A special reception for the artist will take place the evening of October 13th from 5pm until 7:30pm.
Alli Farkas lives in Dowagiac and has served on the board of directors of Artist Co-op 7 — a group of independent artists who joined together to facilitate solo and group exhibits in restaurants and public buildings in the greater Los Angeles area.
She says her paintings "are the result of thin layers glazed over one another; the underlying composition must be strong and the paint must be applied with a purposeful technique." She says, "Whether a portrait, landscape or renderings of rural buildings, I construct the image through layers, attempting always to create a sense of depth through transparency, color and light."
"Sky Pads" began as a simple act of photographic recording without any particular purpose in mind, according to Alli who notes, "I live on property bordering a small, shallow body of water known as the Mill Pond in Dowagiac. Because the Mill Pond is so shallow, it is populated (some would say overrun) by a variety of water plants including water lilies."
Alli says that over the years she has photographed the water lilies several times, thinking perhaps she could revive the subject matter of a series of paintings she created some 25 years ago. "There," she says, "was the magic — lily pads looked like they were suspended in clouds instead of floating on water."
In her Artist Statement for the exhibition, Alli tells us, "I looked at this photo collection and knew I did not want to interpret this ethereal subject in a realistic manner. I began with extremely delicate renderings of pads, sky and water, which continued through the first four paintings. Sensing a need to search further, I let both the colors and the shapes take on a more defined character. Paradoxically, becoming more abstract in execution, I always allow a series to take me wherever it wants to go. At this writing, there are ten paintings completed. There will undoubtedly be more. Monet painted approximately 250 versions."
In 1993 Alli Farkas became a member of LAart, an artists' alliance with five galleries in the Los Angeles area, and a year later she joined the Topanga Canyon Gallery artists' cooperative.
Last year, Alli co-founded a new artists' organization Cass Area Artists here in Michigan's Great Southwest. Her work has been accepted in national and international juried competitions and has received awards, most recently first place in the watercolor division of River Art, sponsored by Sunbury Press & West Shore Gallery five years ago.
Published books featuring her paintings include "Woodlands and Waterways" in 1994 and "River Art" in 2011. He works are also in private and corporate collections across the nation.
The Gallery at Harbor Shores celebrates the talents of exclusively Michigan artists in rotating exhibits on the second floor of The Inn at Harbor Shores. The program has two components, a permanent collection displayed in rooms and public areas and rotating exhibitions in The Gallery curated by Susan Wilczak. The Gallery is open to the public and art on display is available for purchase.
The Sky Pads reception for Alli Farkas will take place on October 13th, is free of charge and open to the public.
