LOUISA GOULD GALLERY
54 Main St.
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568

April 30, 2008

PRESS RELEASE: (Martha's Vineyard) The Louisa Gould Gallery will reopen for its first show of the season on Friday, May 2, after a four-month-long renovation. Please visit " The Spring Show" at the "new" gallery. The artist reception for " The Spring Show" is Saturday, May 3, from 5-7pm. Refreshments and appetizers created by chef Liberty Russell will be served.

Artists exhibiting work in " The Spring Show" are: Caryn King, Donna Malcomber Blackburn, Pia Post, Ovid Ward, Maya Farber, Louisa Gould, Carolyn Warren, Leslie S. Smith, James Masek, and Washington Ledesma. The artwork varies from oil paintings to fiber art to sculpture.

Caryn King is a new artist to the gallery. Caryn's whimsical, vibrant, and thoughtful acrylic paintings of farm animals kick off the show. Caryn used to live on the Vineyard for many years; however, she now calls Vermont her home. Caryn's artwork will adorn the Martha's Vineyard Agricultural Fair poster this year.

Pia Post is a master knitter and sculptress with yarn. Pia has created a functional, wearable bag that is displayed as a nest in the show. The nest bag has a glass egg and green yarn inside and is artfully placed in a portion of a tree--perfect for a nest. Pia explains her bag further: "This hand-crocheted and woven bag is made of the spun fibers from raw silk cocoons. The beauty of the yarn for me is in the gift of life, however brief, of the silk month. The decorative elements attached provide a counterpoint to the rough, natural, organic quality of the silk. The inner-nesting glass egg, resting on a novelty grass-like yarn, is removable. The outer crystals evoking dew are Austrian in origin. The bag itself is very resilient and hard-wearing due to the strength of the silk cocoon."

A new island artist to the gallery is Carolyn Warren. This is the first gallery show for Carolyn. Her small, light, and airy landscape paintings have a low horizon and large brush strokes which evoke windswept Vineyard days. According to Carolyn, "By beginning each painting with a preliminary sketch and color notes on location, I allow for the imagination to take hold of the landscape. I try to capture a sense of feeling through color and composition to let the painting take on a life of its own." Carolyn studied painting with Washington Ledesma.

Washington Ledesma has created a series of Noah's Ark-themed paintings which are full of animals and bold, Spring-spirit and colors.

James Masek, an island artist, will show his sculpture for the first time at the gallery. Four Dancers provides a fluid and joyful element to the show.

Donna Malcomber Blackburn's small, lovely oil-on-masonite paintings of crocuses and lambs are a perfect complement to "The Spring Show." Donna will also participate in a show on Friday, June 27, with Caryn King.

Leslie S. Smith has created a series of twelve, new, lovely pastels for this Spring show. Leslie is represented by the gallery and will have a show of her works on Friday, August 1.

We also welcome to the gallery well-known island artist, Ovid Ward, and his photo-realistic, large, marine-themed paintings. Ovid will have a solo show on Friday, August 8.

Louisa Gould painted a series of four flower still lifes. "I painted these in March when the landscape was absent of color. I bought flowers at various island locations and placed them in vases on my desk. In this way I studied the feeling of each flower, about one every 5 days or so." In addition, Ms. Gould painted a series of seven colored flowers. "This series has many levels: the first is simply a flower in a particular color on a similar-colored, patterned background; the next level is color therapy; and the third level can represent the colors of the seven chakras. For example, an orange gerber daisy is painted with a slightly varying color degree of orange. Each of these are bright and can be shown together or separately."

Please join us for our season opening show. The Louisa Gould Gallery is located at 54 Main Street in Vineyard Haven. Please call for directions at (508) 693.7373 and view the exhibit online at www.louisagould.com.