December 2011

Lowcountry Artists Ltd. in Charleston, SC, Features Works by Bette Mueller-Roemer, Tom Frostig, & Mark Duryee

Lowcountry Artists Ltd. in Charleston, SC, will present the exhibit, Art: Old and New, featuring works by Bette Mueller-Roemer, Tom Frostig, and Mark Duryee, on view from Dec. 2 - 31, 2011. A reception will be held on Dec. 2, from 5-8pm in coordination with the French Quarter Art Walk.

Lowcountry Artists Ltd. has always been proud to present a wide variety of art to the Charleston community. This show will feature works from one of arts’ oldest traditions, pottery, to the more cutting edge examples of digital fusion and totally digital art.

Bette Mueller-Roemer’s pottery is done in the Raku technique, which had its origin in sixteenth century Japan. The word Raku, which has come to be associated with this method, was the name of a family of potters who made tea bowls for the formal Japanese tea ceremony. Various effects in the glaze are achieved by rapid firing and cooling: from delicate patterns to glaze crackle to the shimmer of copper luster. The pieces in this show are examples of copper luster.

Mueller-Roemer’s Raku pieces, most of which are hand built are made from stoneware or porcelain clay. Many are decorated with leaf or flower forms which reveal her association with a large garden which was a part of the Pinehurst Tea Farm which flourished in the early part of this century.
Two of the more recent additions to our Lowcountry artists, Tom Frostig and Mark Duryee approach their art in a very different way. Neither ever have to wash a brush or stretch a canvas, they use tools that artists 25 years ago would never have considered. Both start with an original photograph and then their work is done entirely at the computer.

For Frostig, the photograph is only the basis for the ultimate work. Once the photo is entered into proprietary programs he uses, he adjusts the color, saturation, warmth, strokes, soft and hard lines to express his vision of shape and form, light and dark - to blend a fanciful image he dreams of with the reality he began with.

Duryee’s creative process starts with one of his photographs which he pulls into the computer program, Corel Painter II that acts as his canvas. He simplifies the photograph until it is nothing but a semi-transparent guide, then using a Wacom graphics pen and tablet he is able to mix his color palette and select different brush types to create his vision. In addition to Painter II he also uses Adobe Photoshop and several proprietary programs that he wrote himself.

“I think that if DaVinci had my tools at his disposal he would use them exclusively. Regardless of how he created his work it would still be a DaVinci. While different, my process takes talent just like any other medium and the final result is what counts,” says Duryee.

Art is an ever-widening vista. Lowcountry Artists Ltd. continues to offer fine works across the art spectrum: paint, clay, beadwork, jewelry, metal, wood, glass, sculpture, and computer work.

For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/577-9295 or visit (www.lowcountryartists.com).

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