Allegany County’s Mountain Maryland is seeking submissions for Inaugural 2018 Photo Contest Campaign. A picture is worth a thousand words and the spirit of the Allegheny Mountains contain stories worth telling. Allegany County’s Mountain Maryland invites visitors and community members to celebrate the region’s story with the inaugural Mountain Maryland 2018 Photo Contest, beginning April 2, 2018. Qualified photo submissions will be eligible for $1,700 in cash prizes. A panel of judges will select winning photographs in the following four categories; Arts & Entertainment, History & Heritage, Active Outdoor Recreation, and Nature & Scenic Landscapes. Cash prizes will be awarded in each of the four categories, with first place receiving $250, second place receiving $100, and third place receiving $75. Winning photos will also appear in the annual publication, Visit Mountain Maryland, Allegany County’s official Destination Guide, as well as be displayed within the community after the contest ends. All photo submissions may appear in the destination guide, on Allegany County’s Tourism website, mdmountainside.com, or on social media. Only photos taken in Allegany County, MD, will be eligible for the contest. Photos must be high-resolution, with a minimum of 300 dpi. Collages, composite images, images that have been digitally transformed with special effects, images containing watermarks, and black and white images will be disqualified. The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, October 31, 2018. For complete details, full contest rules, and to upload photo submissions, please visit www.mdmountainblog.com/photo-contest. For questions regarding the Mountain Maryland 2018 Photo Contest, please email tourism@alleganygov.org.

From August 1 through October 31, Colored Pencil artist Lenore Lancaster will be the guest artist in Alta’s cabin. Working in colored pencil, Lenore’s favorite subjects are animals, people and scenes from everyday life. She has been a guest artist for over ten years at Spruce Forest Artisan Village demonstrating her techniques and offering original miniatures as well as prints of her work in the cabin. She is a member of the Miniature Painters, Sculptors and Graver Society of Washington DC, exhibiting her work in two Worldwide Exhibitions of Fine Art in Miniature in Moscow Russia and Johannesburg, South Africa. She has won awards in Annual North American Miniature Exhibition in Baltimore and an Award of Excellence in the International Colored Pencil Exhibition in 2017. To learn more about Spruce Forest Artisan Village, visit www.spruceforest.org

From October 1 through 31, Acrylic painter Mary Byrd will be the guest artist at Spruce Forest Artisan Village’s Red Shed. Mary uses acrylics with mixed media techniques to produce her colorful abstract and semi-abstract subject matter. She grew up just outside of Detroit, Michigan and graduated with an Art Practice degree from Michigan State University. She was hired by Hallmark Cards, Kansas City Missouri as a card designer. Mary operates a graphic design business in Washington DC Mary Byrd Productions. She is a summer resident of Deep Creek Lake and resides in Bethany Beach, DE. To learn more about Spruce Forest Artisan Village, visit www.spruceforest.org

Award winning Artist, Donna Housel, is offering a 5 week class on Scratchboard Art. Beginners are welcome, all levels of expertise. All needed supplies will be provided. 5 two hour sessions, on Tuesday beginning on October 2 and ending on October 30, from 1PM to 3PM. Relaxed atmosphere. Come and join us for a little fun. If interested Please contact Donna Housel, donnahouselfineart@gmail.com, to reserve your seat. Or send request through messenger at facebook. Cost $30. $25 for the class and $5 for the church.

Emmanuel Episcopal Church, 16 Washington St, Cumberland, MD 21502, USA, Cumberland, United States

William C. Gilchrist Museum of the Arts announces that artists, Michael K. O’Brien of Romney, W. V. and Eric Carter of Frederick, Maryland will have an exhibition of their work from October 5^th through November 4^th at the museum and invites the public to attend the opening reception Oct. 6^th from 5 to 7 pm to meet the artists.

104 Washington Street in Cumberland, MD

Open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 1 to 4 pm.

For more information leave a message at (301) 724-9112

Michael K. O’Brien’s name maybe be known in the area for his 25 years as a journalist for the Times News and then the Hampshire Review until he retired in 2015 to pursue his art full time.  In his student days he focused on life drawing and sculpture – no color – just pencil, charcoal, clay and plaster.  Missing color he moved to stained glass in the 1980’s drawing inspiration from several contemporary glass artists and jewelry-makers in the Eugene, Oregon area where he lived at the time.   The work revolved around ideas of making 3D freestanding creations.  That work incorporated copper wire and sheeting and seemed to bring things full circle.  Color and light arrived to meld with the physical challenges posed by sculpture.

O’Brien says, “At times, my process is like going down a rabbit hole.  The seemingly mad hatter ride ends with scraps becoming statements.  The work often came with a bit of a twist as the primary design was often driven by the size and availability of scrap stained glass.  That approach traveled over to my 2D work by way of painting with everything from a collection of doodles to fully completed paintings on floor to ceiling lengths of butcher paper.   Tearing that work up by hand (no cutting tools allowed) creating “scraps” and applying them to a back-painting on board or canvas.  The work takes off from there with interplays of brushwork and torn paper, a variety of which can be seen in the exhibition.”

O’Brien was one of the original Hampshire County (West Virginia) artists in 2008 organizing and participating in the Hampshire Highlands Studio Tour.  In 2009-10 he had a six-week solo exhibition, “Found Along The Way,” featuring over 40 of O’Brien’s paintings, drawings and sculptures at The Bottling Works in Romney.  In 2015, his painting, “Along The Electric Fence Line,” was selected for the 16^th Annual Will’s Creek Exhibition at the Saville Gallery in Cumberland, Md.

Eric Carter is a self-taught award winning artist who experiments with many different styles and subject matters, including Wildlife, Landscapes, Still Life and Abstracts.  His desire to paint Still Life’s eventually became the focus of his work.  He chooses to paint those objects he sees around him, everyday objects that he finds beautiful that are often overlooked.  Landscapes are inspired by the pleasant aspects of the countryside scenes found around his western Maryland home.  He is a former Board Member of, The Delaplaine Visual Arts Education Center in Frederick and has been a member of the Frederick County Art Association, The Artist Angle Frederick, MD and Washington County Arts Council.

Carter said, “While I paint many different kinds of subjects, I strive to achieve a painterly realism in my work. I do this for good reason. In an age when all manner of visual media are easily produced, a well-crafted painting has one clear advantage: it has a real, tactile surface. Therefore, I attempt to let the paint do what it does best: look like paint. Exactly how painterly to make each work is a question for each painting, and is dictated by the subject at hand and that which I wish to capture. I spend considerable time on the many technical aspects of a painting.  Ultimately, it is my hope to remain true to that vision with each painting, and to convey it to the viewer as clearly as I can.”

Carter is the owner of Sun Gallery of Fine Art in Funkstown, MD.  His work can be found in local Galleries and Private collections in the Baltimore and Washington DC areas and will be on display at Agora Gallery New York City June 2019.

The Gilchrist Museum is housed in the Federal style mansion built in 1843 later owned by the Gillette family.  It is located at 104 Washington Street in Cumberland, MD and is open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 1 to 4 pm.   For more information or to rent the museum and gardens leave a message at (301) 724-9112.

Join the Allegany Arts Council in welcoming acclaimed artist, Hilmar Gottesthal, to its Saville Gallery, October 6-28, 2018.

Gottesthal is a prolific artist who is accomplished in oil painting, watercolor, ink drawings, stained glass and sculpture.  Hie exhibition, “Half A Century of Art,”  will be an eclectic mix of his latest work, complete with intrigue from his many travels around the world and his attention to artistry in every piece.

To read Gottesthal’s full bio, visit here.

To view the exhibition, visit the Saville Gallery during regular hours or join us for one of the events below:

Public Opening
Saturday, October 6, 2018
6:00PM-8:00PM

Gallery Walk & Talk with Hilmar Gottesthal
Saturday, October 13, 2018
3:00PM-5:00PM

*All events take place at the Saville Gallery and are free and open to the public. 

Registration closes October 9th!

Learn the skill of cake decorating in this introductory course.  Get in touch with your artistic side learning a variety of techniques from how to bake a great cake, to icing ingredients, to frosting a cake perfectly smooth.  Learn how to fill bags and pipe borders, write on cakes and make roses.  The course is being instructed by Tracy Sanner, owner of Dough Girls Cakes in Rockwood, PA.  She specializes in cakes, cookies and much more.  The kits include a practice board, a variety of tips, plastic icing bags, 3 couplers, a rose stem and plastic scissors. For the first class, students just need to bring their creativity and then for the final two sessions, students are to bring icing and a baked cake to class.

Tuesdays – 3 sessions
$39 + $18 for supplies
Instructor Tracy Sanner

Registration closes October 9th