The Franklin Gallery at RiverStones Custom Framing, 33 N. Main Street in Rochester, will host an exhibit during the month of June called Water’s Edge featuring the work of Dover artist Barbara Zolli Albert.
There will be no opening reception, but anyone may stop by and see the current exhibit during regular RiverStones Custom Framing business hours.
“Painting – whether representational or abstract – is an interactive opportunity to use color, texture, and design to capture imagination,” says Albert. “I work in partnership with my materials, using a brush or pallet knife to make the first mark on my canvas. Although I may have an idea for a subject, I study the mark for suggestions of how it may lead into an artwork’s composition.”
“My paintings usually include suggestions of elements representing sky, water, and landscape to offer viewers an entry point into ‘decoding’ my work. Applying my heavy body acrylic paints with a pallet knife mingles and blends paint colors and leaves surface textures that also add interest.”
Barbara Zolli Albert has a Bachelor’s in Art Education from the Massachusetts College of Art, and a Master’s of Museum Studies from the State University of NY at Cooperstown. “In the 1960s, Massachusetts College of Art students flocked to the new Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, hoping to meet Andy Warhol,” says Albert. “And we did. It was an exciting time in the art world – one of sound and light – where creativity was expressed in film, interactive installations, and silkscreened soup cans.”
She has taught art at all grade levels in public and private schools, junior colleges and adult education, and operated a clay sculpture studio in the Waltham Arsenal. “As an educator,” she says, “I believe every student is innately creative and that art is a form of play that encourages us all to explore our vision and develop a unique style.”
She was Director of the Drake Well Museum in Pennsylvania from 1990 to 2012 and has exhibited her work at Clark University, Danforth Museum, Everson Museum, Brockton Museum, Boston Visual Arts, Impressions Gallery, Milton Academy and University of Massachusetts Boston.
Albert began painting seriously in 2008 (age 65), retired to NH in 2013 and was juried into NH Art Association (Levy Gallery, Portsmouth) in 2014. Her work has been exhibited throughout the Seacoast area since 2014 at the Levy Gallery and Sheafe Warehouse in Portsmouth, Newburyport Art Association in Massachusetts, the Portsmouth Discovery Center, and the Dover Children’s Museum. She is a former president of the New Hampshire Art Association.
RiverStones Custom Framing and the Franklin Gallery are open Wednesday through Friday, 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. For information about this May exhibit and other RiverStones events and services, call Kris or Tom at 603-812-1488 or visit the RiverStones website or Facebook page.