The artists of the Middletown Art Group celebrate the 73rd anniversary of the formation of MAG during the reception for the Middletown Art Group 2019 Members Spring Exhibition from 1pm to 3:30pm on Sunday, May 19.

Three working member-artists will be demonstrating their favorite mediums: Judy Byrne - pastel; Sandy Spitzer - oil; Ann Marie Morales-Ear - alcohol ink. Come and learn from them and ask questions.

An alumna of SUNY New Paltz, both undergraduate and graduate, Judy Byrne focuses on landscape and still life painting. She loves working in pastel and the tactile feel of applying this medium to paper and then watching colors building and forms shaping. She says, “Painting encourages one to become more observant and aware of what the natural world gives us every day.” Her demo will be her memory of a scene in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

From the time she was quite young, Sandy Spitzer has drawn and painted both landscapes and portraits. Growing up in the city gave her a greater appreciation for the country, and for part of her young adulthood, she lived in Scandinavia. However, in her studio, she often paints still lifes. At the art reception, she will demonstrate in oil the use of color, shadows, darks, lights, and form by creating a realistic painting in this artform.

Ann Marie Morales-Ear is a diverse artist, who enjoys drawing as well as painting in several mediums. Her most recent “discovery” is alcohol ink, a fast drying, highly pigmented medium. Its vibrant colors work optimally on non-porous surfaces. Yupo is a non-absorbent paper made of polypropylene. Her demo will be devoted to painting with alcohol ink on yupo. Morales-Ear holds BA in Art History and an MA in Art Education, and teaches elementary art in Newburgh.

The co-chairs of this members’ spring exhibition and reception are artists Anne W. Kelly and Denise S. Isseks. The show is being judged by Janet Howard Fatta, well-known regional artist. Howard-Fatta received a BFA in painting at Pratt Institute. She is a board member of the Orange County Arts Council and facilitates the Warwick Life Drawing Group. She lives in Warwick.

The reception and exhibit are free and open to the public.  Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday - 9am to 8pm and Friday - 9am to 6pm through May, and in June, Monday through Thursday - 9am to 8pm only. The gallery is closed Memorial Day Weekend.

Orange Hall is located at the corner of Wawayanda and Grandview Avenues (GPS: 24 Grandview Avenue), Middletown. Questions may be directed to Cultural Affairs at (845)341-4891 and cultural@sunyorange.edu

Images, top to bottom: Old Irish Cottage - pastel by Judy Byrne; Old Pewter Pot and Red Apple - oil by Sandy Spitzer; Wildflowers 1 - alcohol ink by Ann Marie Morales-Ear.