The Great Creators

The turn of a hand, the flip of a switch, the swish of a brush—motion, emotion and imagination often entwine with these most mundane of movements to create beauty that catches the eye, and perhaps a bit more, of the beholder.

The Clever Curator

Ken Jones

Ken Jones is a marvel of inexhaustible, multi-directional creativity—a welcome manifestation of a 21st-century Renaissance man.

Jones grew up in Longview, Texas. From an early age he excelled at music, visual arts, theater arts and academics. His parents possessed the wisdom to embrace his boundless sensibility. He was free to explore and his eclectic interests quickly grew and flourished.

He attended Brown University where, in typical Jones fashion, he fulfilled the requirements for a major in both art and architecture, and modern culture and media. Simultaneously, he also managed to work as a trends forecaster in New York City for Limited Design Services (a creative think tank run by Les Wexner to influence all his worldwide brands: Abercrombie & Fitch, Victoria’s Secret, Henri Bendel, Structure and Express).

After graduating in 2003, he landed a dream job as art buyer for Ralph Lauren Creative Services and Special Projects. His enviable task was to find and procure art for home collections, show rooms, national ad campaigns and flagship stores. At this juncture he also received the Smithsonian Presidential Scholarship for graduate studies at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. He juggled both these formidable undertakings for 18 months before committing all his energies to Lauren.

Although Jones was living the dream, he did not feel challenged. He had plenty of creative fuel for this consuming career but longed to break out on his own professionally and reestablish some rural roots. He shocked the corporation by quitting and starting his own art consulting business.

He and his partner Ron Morris (the business arm of their company, This Beautiful Life) came to Easton in 2006. They named their brand Mercantile Home and opened their doors to a welcoming community of artists and future friends from all over the area.

Mercantile Home’s proprietary blend of avant-garde, homey and unexpected elements make this spectacular store a singular adventure in retail. They have lovingly created an animated environment with a strong personality that inspires and surprises the senses. This space is truly a worthy expression of Jones' polychromatic energies.

Here you will find many of his wildly diverse creations: wrap skirts, candles, stationery, handbags, room fragrances, ceramic gallery pets, limited edition prints, jewelry and more. All this comes to fruition within the walls of their friendly shop. Jones comes up with ideas in the office. They migrate over to the adjacent studio space to be designed and refined. Next, they move closer to the door as a finished product. Someone comes in and buys it and completes the cycle. It is the perfect realization of his dream—all happening in a relaxed, fun atmosphere. Jones manages to do all this and still works in a consulting capacity by assisting other businesses who seek to establish their own brand.

140 Northampton St., Easton | 610.258.4046 | mercantilehome.com | ken@thisbeautifullife.net

The Sedulous Artist

Deborah LoPresti

Scrutinize her creations from any angle and your eyes encounter breathtaking design and meticulous construction. Couturier Deborah LoPresti transforms the finest materials into extraordinary bridal gowns and sublime eveningwear.

Her lofty standards and uncanny understanding of which shapes, colors and textures complement the female form have earned her a loyal, enthusiastic following. Patrons travel from Massachusetts, Oregon, Texas, California and Europe to work with this charming, sedulous artist.

Her dresses exude an effortless magic hanging motionless on mannequins in her elegant Easton salon. Moreover, she is a master at imbuing each creation with a kinetic beauty that unfolds as a bride moves about the room or dances with her groom. This complex harmony can only be achieved through many fittings and obsessive attention to the interaction of flesh and fabric in motion. LoPresti and her staff skillfully guide the client through this intricate process until the perfect dress is fully realized.

LoPresti takes the whole scope of an event into careful consideration. “If a wedding is in a country inn in Vermont it’s totally different than if it’s at The Plaza,” LoPresti says. “People sometimes don’t realize that the dress has to be styled around how many guests are coming. If you have 300 people at a wedding, the bride has to be seen across the room. If there are 50 people, you don’t put this grand dress on her. And everything must be the finest. I would hope you could put one of my dresses next to any French couturier and it would equal their work.”

She also posses an exceptional talent for redesigning bridal gowns and dresses. I marveled at one of her gorgeous bridal creations that bordered on the confectionery. I was surprised to discover that this garment was transformed from a cumbersome designer dress a future bride brought to her, hoping for a fashion miracle. Her skill at editing and reconstructing a garment allows LoPresti to extend her services to clients who cannot afford a couture gown.

Ultimately, couture must respond to the questions, “Is it incredible to look at?” and “Is the workmanship impeccable?” LoPresti’s creations are a consistent triumph in the face of these unflinching standards; yet this perfectionist presses on to realize a fuller vision. Each client must be exquisitely accessorized and feel as wonderful in the garment as she looks. LoPresti’s unerring taste and tireless attention to every detail make her the courtier you want by your side when everything must be executed at its highest level.

1828 Northampton St., Easton | 610.253.7333 | deborahlopresti.com | By appointment only

Small-Town Big Impressionism

Maciek Albrecht

Maciek Albrecht’s MaGiK Design Gallery in Easton is a world of wonders, brimming with quizzical, whimsical art. This spacious, inviting room is a treasure trove of wildly imaginative creations that keep the mind engaged long after the eyes have tired. This temporary loss of weary faculty is truly anticipation’s gain. All the better to go back for future visits in order to re-experience his playfully intelligent work. (Albrecht opts to be addressed as MaGiK).

Ideas effortlessly spark from MaGiK’s gray matter and assume many fascinating forms. A concept that begins as a sketch can morph into a three-dimensional character study before materializing in a brilliant animation film. His densely populated space is a testament to the indefatigable creativity that is a daily affair in MaGiK’s universe. One wonders where to begin with so many intriguing items calling out for attention.

I was immediately drawn to the life-affirming, post-apocalyptic world sculptures before gravitating to the wall covered with beautifully painted, recycled LPs. Suddenly, I was reaching for the unusual yoga poses and large angular cool cats articulated with wood and paint. Next, I picked up a piece from his conscious folk art series called “Pencilvania.” These are huge pencil sculptures upon which funky local landscapes are constructed. Exotic birds with spiky attitudes (made from recycled wood), a group of friendly vegetable characters called “Veggies,” and oodles of phantasmagorical framed art all made their way into my eager hands—leaving much terrain still left to be explored.

The city of Easton remains a beloved muse and he consistently infuses this ongoing series of posters and sculptures with wit and humor. When you visit, ask him about the delightful animation films he created that feature some of Easton’s citizenry in all their peculiar glory.

MaGiK’s enchanted career would make many a struggling artist envious. After finishing his studies in 1981 at the Fine Arts Academy in Krakow, Poland, he traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan to spend time with his brother. Three weeks later, martial law went into effect in his homeland and he was unable to return. Stranded in the States, he began drawing cartoons, hoping to secure some work. MaGiK sent them, unsolicited, to various publications in New York City. A month later he received a letter from Steve Heller at the New York Times Magazine. He said to contact him if he ever got to the city. A few months later, with very limited knowledge of the English language, MaGiK went to Manhattan. Heller immediately gave him an assignment that paid well. Given his phenomenal gifts as an artist, this led to additional work for most of the city’s publishers including The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Atlantic Monthly and Business Week.

In 1988, a friend called and offered him a project (through the Boy Scouts of Easton) to create a large mural on Route 611 and Third Street. The small town made a big impression on MaGiK. He then traveled to Poland for two years to make a film. When he returned to the East Coast, his entire family decided to drive around the country in search of the perfect place to live. They traveled extensively and came through Easton on the way back to New York. The European feel of the town and proximity to the city made Easton the place to settle.

After moving to the Lehigh Valley, he opened MaGiK Studios and his exceptional animation work continued to blossom. He created the award-winning Classical Baby series for HBO (available on DVD). He has directed many animated films for Sesame Street, Scholastic and HBO specials. He has won four Emmy Awards for animated short films, the Annecy Award for best feature, the Peabody Award and many others.

Presently he and his wife, Creative Director Elli Albrecht, are open to working with locals on animation projects. They also have film and art events in their wonderful shop. It is a fun, stimulating place to visit and find unique art at reasonable prices. MaGiK is truly a local treasure.

Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. | 34 Sebring St., Easton |  magikworld.com | magikdesigngallery.com

Art Seeds

Alison Bessesdotter

Alison Bessesdotter of Allentown lives to create. For her, immersion in the act of creation should animate as many moments of life as possible. She poetically states, “I see my art like scattered seed. Who knows where it will bloom and flower next season and the season after?” Given the compelling diversity of the art seeds she sows, the public is in for a kaleidoscopic harvest of aesthetic treats.

Her work packs a punch across a wide spectrum of mediums, replete with visual and emotional power. Her formidable skills as a painter, printmaker, designer and quilter are roundly displayed in her inviting studio: the Bessesdotter Verksted. During a recent visit on a dank, cloudy day, the sunshine radiated from her work, warming the heart and delighting the eyes.

From the age of four, Bessesdotter drew compulsively. When her mother told her not to draw on the front of the doors in the house, she began expressing herself on the backs of the doors. She also embellished the pages of the family’s books with borders and abstract designs.

She fondly recalls spending many cherished childhood hours walking in the woods and fields of Bucks County with her grandfather. She reflects, “I saw all these amazing things—lush green grasses, creek beds and then a bright orange spotted salamander—big contrasts of color and detail.” She also had a beloved horse that facilitated her extensive exploration of the water, land and creatures in and along the banks of the Delaware River.

Her marvelous watercolors are a joyous expression of the indelible mark nature continues to forge on her soul. The alert colors and intricate flowing lines generate a complexity that never dissolves under the weight of intertwining and multiplying designs. There is an undisturbed enchantment within that beckons the viewer to linger and dream. You could be gazing into a magical stream or a euphoric sky. Turn the paintings in any direction and they continue to speak.

Her creative process is analogous to jazz improvisers who bravely jump into the unknown without maps or guiding coordinates. Bessesdotter’s bottomless talent and refined instinct navigate as she develops these very organic creations. Deep concentration opens into timelessness while she transforms diverse materials into resplendent artifacts.

Currently she is devoting much of her creative energy to creating amazing art quilts. Her skill and passion for working with fabric is abundantly clear as you make contact with these beautiful improbable quilts. (Bessesdotter is the Pennsylvania State Representative for Studio Art Quilt Associates) She encourages visitors to form a tactile relationship with this art—a welcomed facet of interaction that is usually verboten when dealing with paintings and other precious creations. Calling from among these treasures with a gentle surrealism are her funky FrankenQuilts. These are formed from commercial fabrics and found objects. The characters and shapes populating each piece suggest unusual narratives that nudge at the mind like an intriguing visual puzzle.

She also combines vintage kimono fabrics and Swarovski crystals to create wearable art quilts, jackets, jewelry and handbags. These creations are scheduled to be shown in Tokyo and Florida.

Bessesdotter’s studio is filled with a wide range of dynamic paintings, quilts, wearable art and clever curios. This remarkable woman possesses hidden depth that appears to surface organically when she interacts with her creations. 

484.788.4019 | bessesdotterverksted.com | bessesdotter@gmail.com

Richly Ambiguous Creations

Darrell George

Darrell George’s first shows filled the walls of a café in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1999. Bill Levine, who represented for Salvador Dali in the United States, attended and bought one of his paintings. A year later, George had another show. Levine showed up again and purchased a second piece. One of these creations now hangs above a Salvador Dali painting in Levine’s residence.

Years later, George, who is currently in residence at Bethlehem's Banana Factory, was on the road for work and stuck in a hotel during a snowstorm. He was watching a YouTube video of Juliette Lewis performing with her band. He then came across pictures of her whipping her hair around and screaming during one of her performances. He emailed her manager, Brandy Lewis, to obtain a high-resolution file of this energized image so he could create a painting. She emailed back the next day and asked for prices on three of his paintings—not even mentioning his proposition. Actor Ethan Suplee (Brandy Lewis’ husband), contacted him shortly thereafter and purchased one as well. Six months and four sales later, he mailed the painting originally proposed to Lewis.

George’s path into the arts has been an anomalous one. He made the rare jump from hardcore jock to fully-focused artist. He received a five-year football scholarship from the University of Delaware where he studied advertising and design. During his freshman year, George enrolled in a painting class and encountered the work of Francis Bacon and Richard Diebenkorn. This ignited his desire to be a professional painter. He says art kept him from being a better athlete because he was so strongly pulled into the world of oils, brushes and canvases.

While these astonishing artists have clearly influenced his work, George continues to cultivate a fertile direction that is very much his own. He explores the tensions, harmonies and latent potentialities between abstract and representational painting. This zone of inquiry continues to yield strange, enticing fruit, engendering diverse narratives in the imagination with his richly ambiguous creations.

The turbulent surfaces of his work draw the viewer into an enlivened world of textures, gorgeous colors and stridently lyrical lines. It is not uncommon to find compelling compact areas within the painting exerting a pull on one’s attention, forming a momentary whole within the greater whole. This is achieved, in part, by George consciously thickening the oils and then altering the surface until it yields a weathered, agitated appearance.

George masterfully balances these heavily worked areas with aerated spaces that slide into colorful stillness, producing provocative spatial situations. He intuitively grasps the shaping powers of color and proportion and allows each piece to follow its own internal logic and trajectory. This leaves room for figures that exude punchy personalities, intriguing landscapes, striking angular abstractions and expressive specters that are aborning or vanishing into subtly rendered atmospheres.  

At times, his athletic sensibly engenders virile characters traversing thick, abstract zones, infusing the painted air around them with febrile energy. Sometimes figures seem to be etched across time, leaving traces of their smeared essence as they progress. Others yield their lithe limbs to the intoxicating presence of water or air. George’s figures are tinged with tension and awake in a dream—the body and mind re-imagined in subjective time.

George is one of the most promising painters working today. He has grown tremendously in the last decade and his fascinating art continues to draw new clients and fans.

So what’s next? George’s work is now being exhibited at the Creason’s Fine Art Gallery on Royal Street in New Orleans. Locally, he is participating in an art event called the Evolution of Collaboration (at the Fowler Family Southside Center, 511 E. Third St., Bethlehem) with artists Marlow Rodale, Chris Kostyo and Daniel Paashaus. The show can be seen from May 15th to August 15th (celebrating June and July First Friday events from 5 to 10 p.m.).

Banana Factory Studio 242 | 25 W. Third St., Bethlehem | unstopgallery.com

Fresh Frontiers

Scott Sherk

Scott Sherk teaches sculpture and sound art at Muhlenberg College. Former students unequivocally shared how his class was a highlight at the school and an eye-opening experience. He is clearly committed to challenging and bringing out the best in the undergraduates.

“I hope to teach my own students that working hard and caring very deeply about what you do is all that matters,” Sherk states.

In addition to being a highly regarded instructor, he has successfully pursued an idiosyncratic path as a cutting edge artist. His diacritical explorations of internal and external space inhabit fresh frontiers where sound, sculpture and installation art conjure questions you had not thought to ask.

Sherk spent a year living in Japan with his family. This experience continues to influence his work and that of his collaborator and spouse, Pat Badt. “I was overwhelmed by the visual effect of the dry rock gardens like Ryōan-ji whose sense of scale is so mysterious and intangible,” Sherk enthuses. “One sits at a viewing platform and stares into the empty space as it morphs from close to far and enormous to tiny. I get the same effect from a Giacometti standing figure at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. It makes one pay attention to one’s perception and recognize reality for what it is—a work in progress.”

This protean progression is evident in his creation, “River on 86th Street,” where Sherk uses minimal means for maximum impact. He deftly pairs a video of the East River in New York City with a non-idiomatic soundscape. The leaden movement of the water merges with gripping frequencies and subtle rustlings to produce a mesmerizing, narcotic affect. The variegated surface of the river becomes a kinetic painting filled with slowly shifting hues and shapes. This piece manages to be both disturbingly synthetic and lovely.

Water is implied in his playfully conceptual installation piece, entitled: “Hut View” (created for the garden of Katonah Museum of Art, New York.) Visitors are invited to walk on an elevated ramp that leads to a small wood hut. As you move toward the structure, you journey across a river of long parallel strings above a blue ground covering. The hut has five windows precisely positioned to frame views of the surrounding landscape. Four painted metal elements and eight elevated platforms also inhabit the garden.

While exploring the visual treats from the peaceful hut, the viewer’s perceptions were further sculpted by the shifting environmental sounds.

Sherk’s art gradually gets inside your head and knocks down demarcating presuppositions that habitually immure perception. His work might seem austerely cerebral on paper, yet it is physically engaging, fun and illuminating for the adventurous participant. As he expertly engages tangible and intangible materials, his aesthetic trajectory is taking him deeper into fascinating realms of richly hybridized abstraction.

Recently Sherk has been traveling to several Pennsylvania Quaker meetinghouses making audio recordings that document the ambiance of these aurally active, empty rooms. He and collaborator Badt are freezing these sounds into separate continuous tones. He explains further, “We are pairing these sounds with CDs that we are treating to create the ambient color of the light in the meetinghouse rooms when they spin. We will have five different meetinghouse sounds blending and harmonizing with themselves and the sound of the world around them.” This intriguing piece, entitled, “Quaker Harmonizer,” will be installed in Sweden at the exhibition, “Instrument at the Kulturmollan in Lovestat.”

Additionally, he is having a one-man show at the Frank Martin Art Gallery of Muhlenberg College entitled, “Surround.” The show opens in September.

thethirdbarn.org

Crafting the Curved Canvas

Mette Gaardbo

When I met Mette Gaardbo, I was swiftly swept away by a tide of intense, joyous creative energy. Her enthusiasm for art is palpable and her laser-sharp focus in the studio continues to yield a growing line of inimitable handcrafted jewelry.

The experience of seeing Gaardbo’s jewelry is one of being drawn into lovely miniature landscapes where delicately nuanced shapes and uniquely calibrated hues form hip flowers and appealing, intricate abstractions. She treats the rounded surfaces as curved canvases to produce imaginative wearable art.

Since early childhood, Gaardbo has been fascinated by flowers. She recalls apologizing to a neighbor at the age of three for plucking some out of their garden without permission. She studied to become a florist in Denmark (where it takes four years of schooling and internships to achieve this goal). She and her family were very happy with life in their prosperous homeland.

Six years ago, her husband was offered a good job in Bethlehem. Gaardbo gave up her rewarding work as a florist and the family relocated to the Lehigh Valley. Although she was content to live in America and raise her children, an overwhelming urge to reignite her artistic life grew within her.

She decided to study architecture and interior design at Northampton Community College and began making jewelry in her spare time. Gaardbo’s early projects involved cutting up recycled inner tubes and combining them with handmade beads. Her uncompromising standards propelled her to New York City for days at a time in search of the perfect colors on the perfect beads. The precise hues she envisioned had not been created—yet.

When her sister came to visit, Gaardbo quickly fixated on her Danish jewelry. The beads were exquisite, created using a technique called millefiori. This is a difficult, time-consuming process that requires great skill and patience. She experienced an aesthetic satori. Gaardbo saw this technique as her means to realize her dream jewelry. She dropped out of college and rigorously pursued her passion for making wearable art.

Remarkably, she started producing these beautiful pieces just over two years ago. Gaardbo’s masterful creations belie the short time she has been hard at work in the studio. They are certainly a testament to her ability to combine a unique flare for design, color and fine art in her creations.

Gaardbo’s designs appeal to women of all ages. Her creations are fresh, affordable and exude a refined, funky charm. Given the promising trajectory of her career, jewelry and art enthusiasts should invest in her pieces now. Gaardbo’s creations will age well and I suspect her early work will be sought-after collectables in years to come.

342 Northampton St., Easton | mbgdesign.com | info@mbgdesign.com

A Recalibration of the Senses

Norman Sarachek

Norman Sarachek’s art can gently guide the mind through placid dimensions of discovery or jolt the psyche with its defiant otherness. His captivating creations were included in Robert Hirsch’s Photographic Possibilities and Christina Z. Anderson’s The Experimental Photography Handbook—both prominent textbooks about experimental photography. Since 1993, he has been in numerous one-man and group shows throughout the country. Not a small accomplishment for a man who did not initially pursue a career as an artist.

He was working as a clinical cardiologist in Allentown for 22 years when his wife, artist Jett Ulaner Sarachek, suggested they take a photography class, “Learning to See in Black and White” at the Maine Photo Workshop. He recalls enthusiastically, “The class blew my mind. I had no idea how much was involved in taking a good picture.” A week later, while driving home, he consciously experienced the recalibration of his senses—red barns were black, yellow signs were white. His mind was interpreting the landscape through the eyes of an artist.

He nurtured his talent by studying with Boston photographer Costa Manos and Larry Fink (while in Italy). His photographic inquiries captured people at their homes, carnivals, fairs and bars. Curiously, he spent three summers going to the Allentown Rose Gardens to photograph weddings and the photographers who officially shot the weddings. One of these now hangs in the Chico Museum in California. The work is titled, “Rose Garden Weddings.”

He pursued an intimate, distinctive style of photography for about a decade. Although he created engaging images and experienced successful shows at the Southern Vermont Art Center and Freedman Gallery at Albright College, he wanted to break out in a fresh direction and push himself and his art beyond conventional boundaries.

Sarachek began making photograms. He creates these by making a “mask” of ink marks on clear acetate or newsprint paper. Next, he places the mask on top of photo paper and exposes it to light, creating a reverse image of the mask on the photo paper. This technique allowed him to design his work from scratch. The stunning images he produced were featured in New York City and Philadelphia shows, entitled “American Landscapes.” This propelled Sarachek further into the realm of fertile experimentation.

He delved deeper into destructive creativity by applying chemicals directly to the photo paper to destroy the silver. This transformed the image from the restricted realms of black into a nuanced landscape where whites, beiges and grays emerged. He called these new pieces “chemograms.” Because of confusion over the use of the phrase “chemo,” he changed the “o” to an “i.” After doing a Google search, he discovered others were involved in making these chemically influenced creations under the same moniker. His creations, however, are groundbreaking.

His "chemigrams" are a hybrid of intent and chance. Sarachek’s early pieces, done on black and white photo paper (without resist) are fascinating. Some suggest arcane landscapes, while others seem like a glimpse into alien morphology. Using soft resists before applying chemicals to the paper, launches the images in other provocative directions. These conjure Zen vistas, Pollack-like abstractions and complex images mined from the unconscious.

Unlike many other artists working in this area, Sarachek works in a fast and gestural fashion. He applies the resist with brushes, calligraphy pens, old socks, leaves, cling wrap, rolled up newspaper, feathers and leaves. This leftfield approach generates a tremendous variety of marks and movement on the paper.

Sarachek also enjoys painting immensely. His meditative creations, created with acrylics on aluminum panels, have an organic, minimalist vibe. He intuitively marks the surface with oil-dipped feathers, twigs, old pieces of matte board and other unorthodox materials.

Recently he started using his chemigrams as a photographer uses a negative or digital file. He scans the original and judiciously adjusts the image in Photoshop. By engaging digital systems of production he can prepare large-scale archival pigment prints of the one-of-a-kind original chemigram for exhibition.

nsarachek.com | nsarachek@aol.com

Shot on location at Sette Luna, Easton