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Wax Wane

Hamilton Street Gallery is proud to present Wax/Wane, a juried exhibition which focuses its sights above and beyond, toward the beauty and mystery of the Moon, and it’s influence upon the Earth and all its creatures. Thirty one artists have contributed a rich variety of subjects and media relating to the theme, including phases of the moon, lunar excursions, romance, moonlight, moon surfaces, lunacy, as well as little green men.

Featured Artists
Luis Alves: collage
Peter Arakawa
Edward Jean Baptiste
Sam Caponegro
Jackie Cassidy
Randall Cleaver
Fred Cole
Shanna Cole
Alissa Eberle
Robyn Ellenbogen
Chris and Jamie Ernst
Ivan Filipchyk
Stanley Gavidia
Curt Harbits

Thomas Hemmerick Rita Herzfeld
Ruth Jansyn
Antonietta Kies
Dave LaMorte
Donald Lokuta
Zig Mantell
John Marron
Brian McCormack
Jeremy Munson
E. Carol O’Neill
Nancy Ori
Ellen Rebarber
Louis Toledo
Juan Ramiro Torres
Ivia Sky Yavelow

Review of “Wax Wane”

Review of “Wax Wane”

Shanna Cole – “The Cow Jumped over the Moon”, ceramic

Shanna Cole – “The Cow Jumped over the Moon”, ceramic

Rita Herzfeld – “Lunar Lunacy” acrylic on paper

Rita Herzfeld – “Lunar Lunacy” acrylic on paper

David LaMorte – “Voyage to the Moon” cut paper, collage and watercolor

David LaMorte – “Voyage to the Moon” cut paper, collage and watercolor

Fred Cole – “Due Lune con Luce” recycled wood, metal and plastic lens, closet light

Fred Cole – “Due Lune con Luce” recycled wood, metal and plastic lens, closet light

Zig Mantell -“Moon Motel” digital collage

Zig Mantell -“Moon Motel” digital collage

Zig Mantell -“Greetings from the Sea of Tranquility” digital collage

Zig Mantell -“Greetings from the Sea of Tranquility” digital collage

Zig Mantell -“Wish You Were Here” digital collage

Zig Mantell -“Wish You Were Here” digital collage

Chris and Jamie Ernst -“Moonshine” mixed media

Chris and Jamie Ernst -“Moonshine” mixed media

Ruth Jansyn – “Solstice Marker at Chaco Canyon” digital montage

Ruth Jansyn – “Solstice Marker at Chaco Canyon” digital montage

Ellen Rebarber – “Moon over the Mountain” fused glass with various colors

Ellen Rebarber – “Moon over the Mountain” fused glass with various colors

Jackie Cassidy -“Flyte Night ” acrylic on canvas

Jackie Cassidy -“Flyte Night ” acrylic on canvas

Randall Cleaver -“Moon Days Times 2” cookie tins, bike rim, metal plate, grill pan, plastic balls, “L” brackets, brass plumbing part, new pendulum and clock movements

Randall Cleaver -“Moon Days Times 2” cookie tins, bike rim, metal plate, grill pan, plastic balls, “L” brackets, brass plumbing part, new pendulum and clock movements

Nancy Ori  -“A Cold New Jersey Night” archival inkjet print

Nancy Ori -“A Cold New Jersey Night” archival inkjet print

Alissa Eberle – “Medit Moon” color photographic C print

Alissa Eberle – “Medit Moon” color photographic C print

Ivia Sky Yavelow – “Cosmos” (hand print) with graphite, charcoal and dust on tracing paper

Ivia Sky Yavelow – “Cosmos” (hand print) with graphite, charcoal and dust on tracing paper

Ivan Filipchyk – “Chamber Symphony #2” oil on canvas

Ivan Filipchyk – “Chamber Symphony #2” oil on canvas

Thomas Hemmerick -“Moon Rise” watercolor on paper

Thomas Hemmerick -“Moon Rise” watercolor on paper

From the private collection of Donald Lokuta :  Apollo 15 – “Photograph From a Panorama by Jim Irwin, Apollo Lunar Module Pilot” – NASA AS15­90­12248

From the private collection of Donald Lokuta : Apollo 15 – “Photograph From a Panorama by Jim Irwin, Apollo Lunar Module Pilot” – NASA AS15­90­12248

From the private collection of Donald Lokuta:   Apollo 11 “Earth During Translunar Coast Using 250mm Lens”  – NASA AS11­36­5401

From the private collection of Donald Lokuta: Apollo 11 “Earth During Translunar Coast Using 250mm Lens” – NASA AS11­36­5401

From the private collection of Donald Lokuta:   “Commander Shepard on Lunar Surface From Lunar Module” – NWNASA AS14­66­9231

From the private collection of Donald Lokuta: “Commander Shepard on Lunar Surface From Lunar Module” – NWNASA AS14­66­9231

Sam Caponegro – “Moon Dancer” cut paper, glue, cigar box, resin

Sam Caponegro – “Moon Dancer” cut paper, glue, cigar box, resin

Luis Alves: collage – “Find Your Moment” framed handmade collage

Luis Alves: collage – “Find Your Moment” framed handmade collage

Robyn Ellenbogen -“Rotating Element” silverpoint, wire brush, colored pencils and gesso panel

Robyn Ellenbogen -“Rotating Element” silverpoint, wire brush, colored pencils and gesso panel

Edward Jean Baptiste – “Full Moon” mixed media, non silver and acrylic on paper

Edward Jean Baptiste – “Full Moon” mixed media, non silver and acrylic on paper

Juan Ramiro Torres -“Inside Demon” gouache and ink on paper

Juan Ramiro Torres -“Inside Demon” gouache and ink on paper

Louis Toledo -“Crazy Moon” photograph

Louis Toledo -“Crazy Moon” photograph

Louis Toledo -“Killer Moon” photograph

Louis Toledo -“Killer Moon” photograph

Peter Arakawa -“Lunar Metaphysics” ink, watercolor, gouache, and collage on paper

Peter Arakawa -“Lunar Metaphysics” ink, watercolor, gouache, and collage on paper

E. Carol O’Neill -“Owls Wax and Owls Wane” mix media collage

E. Carol O’Neill -“Owls Wax and Owls Wane” mix media collage

Antonietta Kies – “Nocturne 1” oil on canvas

Antonietta Kies – “Nocturne 1” oil on canvas

John Marron – “Bardo” sumie on paper

John Marron – “Bardo” sumie on paper

Curt Harbits – “Gemini” acrylic on canvas

Curt Harbits – “Gemini” acrylic on canvas

Stanley Gavidia – “The Children of the Moon” oil on canvas

Stanley Gavidia – “The Children of the Moon” oil on canvas

Ellen Rebarber – “Moonlight Solitude” fused glass with various colors

Ellen Rebarber – “Moonlight Solitude” fused glass with various colors

Artists Statements

Luis Alves Collage
Image list
“FIND YOUR MOMENT”  24 x 36 Framed Handmade Collage, 2015 $650.00
Statement
Media and Art exert powerful influences over all of us through continuous, evolving processes of reflection and creation.  They shape our hopes and fears, our notions of beauty and ugliness, our ideas about the primitive and the civilized, our conceptions of the honorable and the shameful.  My work uses juxtaposed images to comment on the deep and delicate role the media plays in the shaping of our complex lives, identities, and consciousness.  Each collage is hand-manipulated with the goal of transformation as a way of commenting on, satirizing or criticizing the source material.

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PETER S. ARAKAWA

“LUNAR METAPHYSICS”, Ink, watercolor, gouache, and collage on paper, 22” x 30”, 2003, $3,000.00
Statement
Yeats worked around the phases of the moon. I have based my activities around the moon phases. My lunar watching started while I was a fisherman, and spilled over to my studio time. I have become accustomed to  strange feelings when the full and new moon are active. I imagine the seasons have an effect on me also. The intuition and the moon are linked.

Edward Jean Baptiste
Image List
“Full Moon”, 6.1/2 X 6.1/2, Mixed-media Non-Silver and Acrylic on paper 2013 $100.00
Statement
The Full Moon is there. Its extended image is amplified gradually as each star is added. We followed its tones, forms, nuances, colors … We tried to understand. We wondered. We brought to mind by remembering and remembering.

Finally, when we came to the end of the image; we had in mind the entire group of ideas that compose this complex Universe. And then, we realized that the Moon served as a transition between Earth and beyond.
The Moon became a place where we sought emotional satisfaction, and a place where we struggled for religious salvation, for others as well as ourselves.

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Sam Caponegro
Image List
“Moon Dancers” My work consists of paper inlay (Pieces of patterned paper cut,  repositioned, and glued to create different paper) on cigar boxes with resin, $100.00

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Jackie Cassidy
Image List
Title: “Flyte Night” – Year: 2015 – Medium: Acrylic on Canvas, Dimensions: W 5” x H 5” x D 1.50” (framed) $110.00
Statement
The stuff of dramatic tension — for me, a marriage of conflict and mystery — is a driving force behind my work. My characters run the gamut of life forms: a man choking on his meal, a sloth holding a skull, deformed peas inside a zippered peapod. My landscapes, too, contain “characters” that meld with the trees, mountains and waves all around.

I’m interested in themes like the marginalized outsider (“the Other”), death and decay, apocalypse, power struggle, and hubris. Though my work revels in the macabre, dark humor and the surreal, subtly rendered but often no less present are empowering concepts like perseverance and hope. Outright violence and the splendor of serenity are equally dull notions; with every painting, I shoot for depth and range to expose a more dynamic, true-to-life emotional current.

Some concepts come from my own mind while others grow organically from conversations I have, resulting in work that is more collaborative. Though I start with solid imagery, my work also eventually becomes a stream-of-consciousness rendering of the hidden narrative. Brushstrokes made during the heat of creation are instinctual, so even paintings created only weeks or days apart may contain noticeable differences in execution. The addition of deliberate marks comes during the final, refining stages.

Subject matter always informs my style, and I find it impossible to confine myself to any one particular style or genre — though I’ve tried many times. Abstract and loose, realistic and tight, process-based — all are salient modes of representation that hinge on my own instincts and the subject or theme at hand.

Randall Cleaver
Image List
“Moon Days Times 2” 2013,53”h x 35”w x 6”d, $1,800.00
Media: 12 cookie tins purchased new, 2013, Bike rim found in Philadelphia around 2004.
Metal plate given to me by a neighbor, 2013, Bottom of a grill pan from my kitchen, 2012
Plastic balls from Community Forklift, 2012, L brackets from a local hardware store 2013
Brass plumbing part from a dumpster in Philadelphia, 2004, Pendulum movements and clock movement purchased new
Statement|
The inspiration for this came from finding a round disk with 12 holes in it. It was originally from a ceiling light fixture.  It first I was just going to use it as a clock but as the piece grew I ran into an image of the lunar cycle using 12 photos and decided on that direction for the clock. I have a lot of tins but I did not have 12 the same size and I really wanted a consistent size. After scouring the local thrift shops and walking around the neighborhood during recycling days and not finding what I wanted I started looking online and found a cheap cookie tin site. The blue was beautiful. It reminded me of early morning skies with the moon still out. The tins were also a perfect size for the pendulum units.  I decided on the different lengths that went at different speeds to show the different energies throughout the day/month. From frantic to more relaxed. The plastic knobs are painted in the back with glow in the dark paint so in the dark you have a ring of moons.

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Fred Cole
Image List
“Due Lune con Luce.” Recycled wood, metal and plastic lens. Closet light  2015, $235
Statement:
I have always been fascinated by the moon. As a kid it always changed positions when we were riding home in the car…one side than the other…seemed like a miracle to me. It’s phases, size, brightness and dances with the clouds were always a big deal to me. My main interest in the moon comes from the small knowledge I have of the influence the moon has on the planet and all of us on earth. The mythology surrounding it, the art capturing it, the poems and songs celebrating it, and it’s allure to so many have made the moon special for me.

However, my favorite aspect of the moon is the uniting aspect it has to the planet Earth at large. Every night there is a moon, it is seen all over the world in the same phase and in the same way by the people everywhere. It reminds all of us we are connected and can remind us of people we know in faraway places large, that in fact they are seeing the same moon we are. To me this grounds us and makes us more human in a world that often feels large, disconnected, and disorienting.

My work for this show combines my interest in the moon and my interest in sculptures with light. What better than to light the moon for the Hamilton St. Gallery.

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Shanna Cole
Image List
“Cow Jumping Over the Moon” Glazed ceramic 2005 NFS
This piece is a representation of childhood innocence and the comforting presence of the moon watching over the world. I made this in an elementary school art class, and the staples of childhood are visible in the details of the piece – the personification of the moon with its smile and the playful engravings around the border. Although I don’t remember my exact inspiration for this piece at the time, the moon has always been an important and meaningful symbol for me. As far back as I can remember I have been fascinated by the changing stages of the moon and how bright something surrounded by so much darkness can be. I vividly remember asking my mother why the moon would always follow us when we were driving in the car at night. As I have gotten older, the moon has retained this meaning and also become a reminder of unity and familiarity in an increasingly changing and unstable world. Wherever I am, my loved ones and all other beings on this planet are looking up at that same body mass in the sky. The moon is a constant and provides us comfort in the thought that we are all under the same sky.

Alissa Eberle
Image List
“Medit Moon” Color Photographic C Print  20” x 20”, 2015 $250.00
Statement
These images explore the fantastical lives of our nocturnal domestic partners, the cockroach. Throughout the ages, the cockroach has been a nuisance to humans, growing and changing alongside man and adapting to his behavior and the environment that he provides. Our attempts at eradicating them have been met with extreme failure, and as testament to their resilience as a species, it has also been predicted that they could outlive humans. If this were to happen, than the cockroach in a sense would be an artifact of human existence, a link between life after humans and before. In these images,  they are depicted as other-wordly night beings that exist between the contemporary era of humans, and the one yet defined, as spirit animals shuffling the world off to the great unknown.

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Robyn Ellenbogen
Image List
“Rotating Element” metalpoint, colored pencils, on colored gesso panel 16” dia. 2015. $1,250.00
Statement
Childhood memories suggest that sensations captured my mind and spirit. I was drawn to the darkness of the night sky, the smoothness of surfaces, and the play of light and pattern that appeared when I closed my eyes.  Time and memory play an important role in my work. I aspire to translate these feelings, perceptions, and sensations into something palpable, fluid , intimating the process by which formlessness becomes form. I work in varied formats, drawings, paintings, books, digital imagery, photography and  sculpture,  all based in an abstract language.  Over the past few years I have been working in metalpoint and egg tempera.  Both of these practices are based in 12th century techniques. Metalpoint was used in several ways, drawing, preliminary sketch for painting (often egg tempera) and calligraphy. I use an assortment of metalpoint  and metallic wools.  Metalpoint may include metal wire in a stylus and the use of flat and three-dimensional pieces of metal such as coins, plates spoons and assorted jewelry. I draw with everyday objects and build dream-like images in which fiction and reality meet, meanings shift and past and present fuse. Who can say what memory is? My images occur from intuitive and internal gestures, These gestures generate seemingly tranquil images that leave traces on the edge of recognition and alienation.  My paintings in egg tempera continue to explore inner states of mind.  When I was a child, I had an internal dialogue which often centered on loss, absence, the inevitability of dying and a sense of absurdity. Egg tempera paintings are often combined with the use of metalpoint.

Chris and Jamie Ernst
Image List
“Moonshine” Mixed Media, 15” x 15”, 2015, $150.00
Statement
I strive to recreate mechanical works while allowing the artist’s hand to have a strong influence.  Pop culture and original sketches form the basis for a majority of my paintings.  Punk, hip hop and skateboarding are all huge influences.  I prefer complementary, synthetic colors and intense lines. I love it when a piece strikes the balance between a childhood memory and my contemporary, personal twist. The mood I aim for is somewhere between modern and nostalgic.

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Ivan Filipchyk
Image List
Chamber symphony #2. Oil on canvas. 24 by 48”. 2015. $700.00
Ivan Filipchyk, 24 years old,  was born in Belarus, small country in the Eastern Europe. He began to study music and visual arts at the local Art school in his hometown. Thereafter he continued his music education in college, majoring as an accordionist. After the graduation from Gnesin Academy of music in Moscow in 2015 he moved to USA, New York. Now Ivan continues his music career actively combining it with visual art.

Artist statement:
Though haven’t been involved with visual arts since the graduation from art school and for 10 more years to come, I felt at some point that music, being a powerful source of inspiration and abstract ideas, is not enough for self expression. That was a turning point after which I couldn’t imagine my life without painting. Though much more concrete a type of art than, say, music, representative painting seems to me capable of conveying very abstract ideas and allowing  a lot of variation, hence rich and unlimited.

Stanley Gavidia
“The Children of the Moon”, Oil on Canvas,   24 x 36, $1,000.00
Bio
Stanley Gavidia was born and raised in El Salvador.
He studied Visual Art at National Art Center of El Salvador, (CENAR) Centro Nacional de Artes de El Salvador. Stanley Gavidia currently resides in Paterson, N.J.
Art Statement
I cannot say anything concrete about painting, what happens on the canvas is unpredictable and surprising to me. There is no particular system I follow when I begin painting.
I work on many canvases simultaneously; some of them suggest something, once I sense the suggestion, I begin to paint. I know what I have to do at the moment. I leave it to the spectator to fix the meaning. It can always be interpreted in many ways.
I frequently hear the question, what do these images mean? However, this is simply the wrong question; visual images do not have to conform to either verbal thinking or optical fact.
A better question would be, ‘do these images convey any emotional truth?’

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Curt Harbits
Image list
“Gemini”   acrylic on canvas  12″ x 15″ in a white gallery frame, 2015 $300.00
Artist Statement
My works utilize the vast reference that is the internet. I create digital sketchbooks to facilitate my ideas, making them tangible. These compositions are then drawn with graphite, charcoal, acrylics, and other multimedia. Merging the ethereal with hand-made craftsmanship.

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Thomas Hemmerick
Image List
“Moon Rise” watercolor on paper, 9” x 12”, 2015, $200.00
Statement
“This piece was drawn from life on a late summer night in the city.  I took my drawing paper to the roof of my building and captured the moon rising up above the many churches and buildings in my neighborhood.  New York City is such a remarkable place that even at night its glow is reflected in the sky.”

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Rita Herzfeld
Image List
“LUNAR  LUNACY”   acrylic on paper 12” x 12” 2015,   $80.00
Statement
The power of the Moon and the effect it has on romance is quite amazing.  Lovers looking at each other in the light of the moon all look perfect.  Moonlight can seduce you.  Encounters that in the light of day are just pleasant, become more intense and all of a sudden…you’re in love.  I find that the moonlight, peeking
through the treetops and shimmering on the lake fills me with a sense that all is
right in my world.

On the other hand, as a child, I felt that the moon and the darkness were frightening. Leaves were falling around me…some landing on my head…the rustle of leaves on the  ground, the sudden flurry of something passing right overhead…Birds?…Bats? And the moon had a face on it…it was scowling…run, run home to a warm, well lit home.

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Ruth Jansyn
“Solstice Marker at Chaco Canyon,” digital montage, 2015 16” x 20” $50.00
Statement
I started photographing landscapes from the time that I could hold our venerable Kodak box camera more or less steady.  After my brother demolished the box when he attempted to sterilize it in an autoclave, I graduated to a series of more advanced, but less inspiring cameras.  During these years I used my camera to document my European wanderings.  .  Then, as retirement approached, and my research trips ended, I participated in a number of archaeological digs.  I needed something better than a standard point and shoot camera. I took photography courses at Long Island University in New York City.  After seven years, I turned myself loose
I don’t have a particular purpose or theme in mind when I set out with my camera, although recently I have shifted my focus from the southwestern Texas landscapes to the individuals who populate these scenes.
People often ask what camera I use.  Despite the emphasis in this statement, I believe that my eye, both when I snap the shutter and then when I view the image, is my most important tool.  I take many shots, but work on only a few.  And that, I believe, is what seven years of media study have taught me.

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Antonietta Kies
Image List
“Nocturne I” Oil on canvas, 25”x16”, 2015, $375
Statement
The fragmentary feeling from a dream and the experience within a photograph are equally real, and these worlds freely intermingle. I hope to create a spiritual connection with the viewer by inviting them into a world of images.
Antonietta received her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in May, 2013.

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David LaMorte
Image List
“Voyage to the Moon” Cut paper, collage, and watercolor, 12″x12″x 2″, 2015 $150.00
Statement
David LaMorte is public school art teacher, sculptor, and collage artist from Metuchen, NJ. He create works that have a playful pop art sensibility. He draws from cartoons, comic books and contemporary art history. His work takes the dark/sinister too lightly silly things too seriously.
His papercut and collage technique allows him to use repetition to create pattern and to create limited edition works by his own hand. His work has been shown both locally and internationally.
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From the private collection of Donald Lokuta
Image List:
Apollo photographs: Chromogenic Prints listed below
Apollo 14  – “Commander Shepard on Lunar Surface From Lunar Module” – NWNASA AS14­66­9231
20” x 16” framed $1,200.00
2) Apollo 15 – “Photograph From a Panorama by Jim Irwin, Apollo 15 Lunar Module Pilot” – NASA AS15­90­12248 – 20” x 16” framed $1,200.00
Apollo 11 – “Earth During Translunar Coast Using 250mm Lens”  – NASA AS11­36­5401- 20” x 16” framed $1,200.00

Statement
The Apollo astronauts underwent intensive training in preparation for their Moon explorations. Over the several years prior to the Moon missions, scientific and photographic training was provided. Astronauts were encouraged to take training cameras on trips to become more familiar with the camera operation and to enhance their photographic technique. Tutorials were provided to the crews on the equipment, its operation, as well as on the scientific purposes. The crews visited geologic sites in Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii, frequently simulating their lunar traverse, completely outfitted with sample bags, checklists, simulated backpacks, lunar rock hammer, core-sampling equipment, and typically using Hasselblad EL cameras similar to those they would use on the Moon. As the use of the camera was mostly automated, the most crucial training was in pointing the camera which was attached to their chest control packs for the suit’s environmental control system. The astronaut would point his body in order to aim the cameras. Films taken during the practice exercises were processed and returned to the crewmen who would study the results.
From December 1968 to December 1972, twenty-seven astronauts traveled to the Moon and twelve walked upon its surface. There were nine voyages across the quarter million miles. The treasures of Apollo included the samples of the lunar surface and the photographs the astronauts took. The photographs of Apollo, today, three decades later, help us to relive the experience.
Gary H. Kitmacher, NASA

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Zig Mantell
Image List
“Greetings from the Moon Motel” – digital collage, 16” x 20” 2015, $250.00
“Greetings from the Sea of Tranquility” – digital collage, 16” x 20” 2015, $250.00
“Wish You Were Here”  – digital collage, 16” x 20” 2015, $250.00
All three digital collages are $600.00
Statement:
The postcard is an old American custom
When you go someplace nice, you think of your friends and family still at home. Naturally, you send them a postcard to let them know what a wonderful place you are visiting, and they would love it too. Of course, you want to share your happiness with them. and the picture on the postcard offers the visual stimulation to entice a positive reaction from them. So, what do postcards have to do with the Moon? These postcards were created during the large full moon we experienced at the end of September 2015, when the moon was at the closest point to the Earth in many years. If there is proof of lunacy during a full moon, then maybe …..
We have labored under a full moon for too long.
Some say; America obsessed about sending a man to the moon for twenty years.
Some say; We landed there in 1969. Some say; It was all fake. A conspiracy concocted in Area 51.
Some say; It was a Tricky Dick Nixon enterprise, covered up in 18 minutes of silent tape that revealed that conspiracy.
Some say; It was the Flying Saucers.
Some say; These postcards were created in order to lure unsuspecting Americans into Outer Space, by little green men.
Some say; “Hey, try this Acid.”

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John Marron
Image List:
“Bardo” sumi on paper, 12” x 16” , 2004, $1,000.00
Statement
John Marron closes his eyes when he paints. form, emptiness (shunyata), wabi/sabi, intention, representation, virtuosity, history,aesthetics, color, perfect flaws,originality, art& beauty all disappear …. vegetable char floats up to inspire the page, be it water, rice paper or clear sky …. a quick graph of the point blank now remains … his brush with spontaneity, swipe of kitchen towel, twig, divining rod, rip of saran wrap, invisibility wand, palette knife, found object or pipette come into the moment to create whooshes out of simple means, ephemeral selves or sacred nothings ……. . mystery abounds …. where you find it …. or embody it …. sumi-e, for him, is a style, a term for “black ink” in japanese, a wacky pseudo ideogram, a fun, easy, inexpensive way to get off the merry-go round /full stop ….
as co-founder of the Princeton area zen group(pazg), Highland Park Art Collective (HPAC), editor of as is so & so press, author of the haiku book “blips” (amazon/ black angel press-(2012), and student of Aitken Roshi, Trungpa Rinpoche, Kaz Tanahashi and Suzuki Roshi, he hopes you too close your eyes and breathe into these clear marks .. what you see (eyeye) is the freedom to forget your suffering and fleeting attachments to whatever and just be, sans i, for a nano-enzo-ichi second.

Brian McCormack
Image List:
“Pearlmoon Ride” collage and cray-paz on masonite, 2’ x 4’, 1995, $250.00
Statement:
Access on the job to color copiers, stat cameras, silkscreen, offset duplicators, darkrooms and more became my excursions into art while on the job. Stealing away minutes here and there, making and collecting imagery, and stashing it at home in flat drawers for later use. Leftover scraps of projects became surfaces for artworks made in the late night squeezing out every last minute of free time before bed and then work again. It was at one of those times, when my “Pearlmoon” came into view with his glasses big eyebrows and mustache. How fitting for the humorist of the Marx Brothers to become the face of the moon with a muscle bound winged angel flying a rabbit rocket up to greet him.

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Jeremy Munson
Image List:
“Hermit Satellite” sculpture, aluminum and mylar, 24” x 48” x 60” 2015, $1,250.00
Statement
I contrast images recurring in my life which create spontaneous visual melodies.  I render them directly in dimensional space while using the most expedient methods possible. It is a form of collage, but with primary rather than appropriated content.
Extracting these bits and pieces and guessing at the relationships between them is like taking a blood sample. I always get queasy having blood drawn but it’s interesting to see what’s hidden in there. Seeing other’s reactions is like getting a glimpse at their blood, too. Some of the relationships surfacing are obvious, like repulsion or attraction, while others remain ambiguous. I don’t mind either way. The clear pieces can be used to communicate more directly while the unclear connections leave a lot of space and are less dictatorial for the viewer. Both are useful to me.
It could drive one mad trying to understand all the interconnections of causality. I focus on the contact point between human activity and the living systems supporting and closely surrounding it. This is where I glimpse hope, survival and irony. It is the frontier of an integrative theory where we can see the delusion of ideas like economics and other heroic human abstractions.

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E. Carol O’Neill
“Owls Wax and Owls Wane” mixed media collage, 16” x 20”, 2015 NFS
Statement
I have been saving these magazine photos of the owls and the full moon for years. To be a collagist means being a saver. Recently I found the lower right ink drawings in black and white of a group of active people.
They seemed just right as a foil against the owls. Adding more patterned papers plus a 2″ gold and black ribbon, the owls are suspended by the moon in their own collage.
I have been working in collage for over 10 years in Central New Jersey. My latest exhibit was a solo show of 18 pieces at Johnson & Johnson Worldwide Headquarters ending September 25, 2015. This is the first of my new work. I hope that you enjoy it.

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Nancy Ori
Image List:
“A Cold New Jersey Night”, archival inkjet, 18x24, archival inkjet, $295
Statement:”
It is a magical time of evening or morning when the sky is still light enough to photograph and the moon is revealing itself to us. I love the mood that the lighting creates.

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Ellen Rebarber
Image List
“Moonlight Solitude” fused glass with various colors 12″ x 14” $225.00
“Moon over the Mountain” fused glass with various colors 12” x 16” $265.00
Artist’s Statement
Ellen is a sculptor, working with a variety of materials, including metal, wood, stone, cement, plaster, clay, glass and most recently acrylite. She welds, solders, enjoys making clay raku sculpture and loves to design fused glass jewelry and platters. Ellen is a risk taker reaching as far as she can, so to create beautiful objects that are pleasing to her and to others through sharing and exhibiting her work. Throughout her adult life, Ellen’s eagerness to learn inspired her to continue her art education so to enhance her development as an artist. She studied under George Segal, the sculptor, who made a profound impression on her and influenced her work. There, she learned about form, texture, composition, painting, drawing, art and music. “He really taught me how to see and comprehend our surroundings, for which I am grateful.” After retirement from teaching in Highland Park, Ellen enrolled in sculpture classes at Middlesex County College as well as Mason Gross School of Visual Arts at Rutgers University. She also studied with Rudy Serra, who was very inspirational and encouraging to her. Ellen works diligently in her home studio where she spends much of her time. She recently completed a commission for an indoor water fountain for the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development in New Brunswick, NJ, and most recently is a participating artist in City Without Walls 2013 Metro 30 traveling exhibition. Ellen has works in private collections throughout the metropolitan area and is available for commissions. For more information about Ellen visit: http://ellenrebarber.wordpress.com

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Louis Toledo
Image List
“Killer Moon”, Photography, 12” x 12”, 2015, $250.00
“Crazy Moon”, Photography, 12” x 12”, 2015 $250.00
Statement
Louis Toledo a Brooklyn born artist and painter, now living in the North New Jersey area for the past fifteen years. His focus is on Abstracts. He works on paper, canvas and panel in a variety of mediums . His work is available in originals, prints and commissions.
My inspiration comes from nature, emotion and music and what ever is happening in my life at the moment. I like to say at the risk of sounding flaky, Life is art, art is life. The artist soul can not be suppressed, a constant struggle between reality and what really drives you. Explosions, energy and movement.

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JUAN RAMIRO TORRES
Image List
“Inside demon” Gouache and ink on paper, 11” x 14”, 2011 $250.00
BIO:
Juan Ramiro Torres was born in Lima Peru and has lived in the United States since 1984. He graduated from Parsons School of Design (NY) in 1991, since then he has worked as Art Director of many newspapers.
He currently works as fine artist, art teacher and graphic designer.
His artwork has been exhibited in major events and galleries in the
United States and other countries (Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia, Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Italy and France). He has also been recognized with numerous honors and awards, and his works are part.
STATEMENT:
“Every painting tells a story that one has lived. Therefore my work finds all it’s emotions, characters and scenery through my past. With the use of a contemporary language these subjects blend together to recreate and enhance an event.”

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Ivia Sky Yavelow
Image List:
“Cosmos” (Handprint), graphite, charcoal, and dust on tracing paper, 12” X 16”, 2014, $165
Statement
Much of my recent work has been contemplating blankness and the creation process.  I have been experimenting with how marks can come together to create an indistinguishable whole, where the whole becomes a component again, a “blank” space, for further creation.  A white gallery wall, gessoed canvas, or sheet of paper are often used as backgrounds for works of art.  But these “blank” contexts are themselves made from processes of creation – accumulated marks and erasures.  They have unique textures and histories, such as plaster or paint patches, paint drips, smudges or tears on the edge of a paper.  These contexts were created (with purpose) from the same materials often used in art pieces. These pieces use basic materials such as gesso and paper to investigate the materiality of what is often used as a “blank slate” and to experiment with making visible some of the movements and processes that can go into creating surfaces related to art making, playing with ways that solid white surfaces can be formed and destroyed.