Art show dazzles

The Art Institute and Gallery's annual "Holiday Artist Show and Sale" features nearly 60 works by 20 artists. In addition to paintings, watercolors, works in mixed media and photographs, the show also includes two sculptures in a simplified style that recalls folk art, decorative platters and other items in fused glass and jewelry.

Ken Basile judged the show, awarding three principal prizes and three honorable mentions. Basile, who has degrees in photography and museology, is a former director of the Salisbury University Galleries and of the Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art. Since his retirement from the Ward Museum several years ago, he has devoted himself to photography and recently published "Mexico City--Out and About," a travel book co-authored with his wife, Karen.

The top prize-winners were Angela Herbert-Hodges, first prize for the watercolor, "Tugs on the Thames;" Carole Peirson, second prize for the oil painting, "Summer Memories;" and Fred Peterson, third prize for "Large Oaks Left," executed in watercolor and ink.

All three prize-winning works combine recognizable imagery with abstract elements. Peirson's "Summer Memories," for example, depicts a group of brightly colored, stacked canoes on a multi-level outdoor storage rack. Peirson contrasts the canoes' nearly abstract shapes, heavy paint textures and intense hues with the more naturalistic colors and textures of the background, which is painted in a more detailed, realistic manner.

Two photographs received honorable mentions: Dean Peterson's "Spirit Clouds and Rainbows," a color digital print of the empty Perdue Stadium under a vast sky with large cloudbanks and a double rainbow; and Kurt Reddersen's black and white "Grain Facility, Laurel, DE," which shows a detail of the facility complex, focusing on its abstract, geometric shapes and varied patterns and textures.

The third honorable mention went to Tricia Kowalewski for "Pixie Stix," a fused glass, decorative pink platter with a dynamic pattern of intersecting, scattered black lines.

All the works are for sale and, as usual at this time of year, may be taken home upon purchase.

In addition to the Holiday Show, the AI&G is hosting a sale of various handcrafted items in one of its studios. Items include "wearable art" and accessories, such as capes, shawls, scarves, hats, purses, and jewelry. Also available are books, mostly for children, by local authors; holiday wreaths; and an assortment of baked goods.