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May Issue 2003
Hilton Head Art League in Hilton Head, SC, Features Works by Evelyn Kowtko and Dorothy Steelman
The Hilton Head Art League in Hilton Head, SC, will present the work of two local artists, Evelyn Kowtko and Dorothy Steelman in a show entitled Oil and Water, at the Hilton Head Art League Gallery in Pineland Station. The exhibition will be on view from May 13 through June 7, 2003.
Though oil and water
don't mix, the friendship of these two artists and their mutually
compatible talents are what bring these two mediums together for
a truly exciting show. This dynamic duo has been painting together
for years. Actually, when Evelyn Kowtko purchased her first Dorothy
Steelman painting, she got to meet the artist. They've been friends
and painting companions ever since.
Kowtko paints in oils. She's been painting for over 30 years.
Largely self-taught, she became serious about painting when she
joined Wildwood Studios in Basking Ridge, NJ. Kowtko has studied
art with such well-known artists as John Chickering, Bernard Abelew,
Marylyn Stewart and Nick Reale, and attended the Camden School
of Art of London, England.
Kowtko shows a willingness
to take risks as she paints the lovely views of Hilton Head Island
en plein air, and interpretations of her travel photographs,
marine scenes, and flowers. A loosely realistic painter in oils,
acrylics and pastels, she tries to impact her enthusiasm to the
viewer through the masterful use of light and color. "Painting
has opened my eyes to the previously unnoticed beauty of nature.
It is a lifelong learning process and I try to challenge myself
in creative ways to become a better painter," say Kowtko.
Kowtko is active with the Hilton Head Art League and chaired the
hanging committee for several years. She served four years as
secretary of the Hilton Head Plantation Artists Association, and
is a member of the Society of Bluffton Artists.
Recently, Kowtko and her friends held an art show entitled, Friends: Coastal Impressions and Beyond, at the Kent Island Federation of Art in Stevensville, MD, on Chesapeake Bay. She was invited to exhibit her work at the 14th Annual Art & Flower Festival in Apr., 2002. She has also been accepted in the Hilton Head Art League National Juried Exhibition for the last three years and won an award in the Hilton Head Plantation Artists Association Art Show in 2002.
Dorothy Steelman is the watercolorist in this exhibition. She was influenced in her career choice by her mother. Talented in all forms of needlework, her mother introduced her to the color, texture and patterns of fabrics and yarns. This exposure inspired her to become a textile designer.
After graduating from Parson's School of Design in New York, Steelman became a designer in the home-furnishings textile industry in New York City, creating designs for major companies in the United States, the UK and Europe.
Retirement to Hilton
Head Island allowed Steelman to focus on her love of flowers,
color and texture. The gardens of Europe and Scandinavia, and
visits to Mexico and the Caribbean Islands have provided a wealth
of
material for her paintings. She enjoys the challenges of watercolors
and has attended workshops locally with Linda Potter and Carrie
Brown.
Steelman's paintings hang in private collections and can be seen locally at the Plantation House in Hilton Head Plantation and the Hilton Head Art League Gallery in Pineland Station. Her work has appeared in juried shows on Hilton Head Island, Beaufort, SC, and Myrtle Beach, SC, and has won numerous awards. In 2002, she won the Golden Palette Award for watercolor.
Steelman is a past Vice
President and President of the Hilton Head Artists Association
and is a member of the Hilton Head Art League, the Beaufort Art
Association, the Society of Bluffton Artists and the South
Carolina Watercolor Society.
The variety of subject
matter presented by these two outstanding artists makes for a
diverse collection of wonderful artwork. Both bring incredible
talent, unique perspectives and mastery of their mediums to their
work.
For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery
listing, call the gallery at 843/681-5060 or on the web at (www.hiltonheadartleague.org).
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