 Elizabeth Apgar-Smith, best
known for her impressionistic landscapes of the Schoharie Valley region,
cityscapes, still lifes, and depictions of people engaged in everyday
living, is currently focusing on an evolving, touring exhibition,
Faithful Labors, a tribute to Schoharie County’s farm families. The
exhibit opened in spring of 2005 at Wellington’s Herb & Spice Farm
Gallery in Schoharie, then moved on to The Bennington Center for the
Arts in Vermont.
The Skidmore College graduate has earned
numerous regional and national honors over the years for her pastels,
watercolors and oils. She has been featured in articles in two major art
magazines, and has had multiple examples of her work included in six
books on painting technique.
Elizabeth teaches at the Hudson River
Valley Art Workshops in Greenville, NY, the SUNY Cobleskill mini-course
program, and offers weekly classes in the spring and fall from her
studio in Schoharie. She is a juried member of the Pastel Society of
America, the Northeast Watercolor Society and the Capital Region Oakroom
Artists.
Artist Statement:
I consider myself to be a contemporary
Romantic painter, an impressionist interested in creating images that
celebrate the beauty I find in the world around me.
For the past 27 years, I have called the
Schoharie Valley of Upstate New York home. Its pastoral character and
salt-of-the-earth people have been a perpetual source of inspiration to
me in my landscape and narrative works. Although I have painted all
manner of subjects over the years, living in the midst of the natural
bounty of the Catskill Mountains offers me daily inspiration unavailable
to many artists.
My most recent focus has been on
Schoharie County’s family farms, and on the noble farmers who struggle
to maintain a disappearing way of life. In my paintings, I have strived
to combine what I see as a romantic landscape with the depiction of the
honest, hard-working farmers who toil each day to produce our food. I
have named the touring exhibition, three years in the making, Faithful
Labors.
My hope was that I might pay tribute to
the beauty in the honest struggle of farm work, thereby placing a
spotlight on a profession too often forgotten. The emotional reactions
I’ve received from farmers who have viewed the exhibitions have
convinced me that my endeavor has been worth all the time and effort I
put into creating the body of work and encourage me to further my
exploration of the subject.
Opening for Faithful Labors Show
Resume
Workshop presenter. . .
Farmland Preservation Artists of Central Pennsylvania
Education . . .
Skidmore College, B.S. Art Education/Concentration in
Painting (1975)
Woodstock School of Art - five years study in painting with
Zhang Hong Nian
Solo Shows . . .
Smithy-Pioneer Gallery, Cooperstown - 2007
Old Forge Arts Center - 2006
The Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, Vermont 2005
Wellington’s Herb & Spice Farm Gallery, Schoharie,
NY2005
Oakroom Artists’ Gallery, Schenectady, NY 2002
South Shore Art Gallery, Little Falls, NY 2000
The Mural Gallery, Stamford, NY 2000
The Catskill Center Erp Gallery, Arkville, NY 1999
The Shellnut Gallery, RPI, Troy, NY 1999
Pioneer Gallery, Cooperstown, NY 1998
Picture Perfect Art Gallery, Canajoharie, NY 1997
William K. Sanford Gallery, Latham, NY 1996
Canajoharie Library & Art Gallery, Canajoharie, NY 1994
Dogtail Fine Art Gallery, Wingdale, NY 1993
Grosvernor Gallery, SUNY Cobleskill, NY 1993
Southern Vermont Art Center, Manchester, Vermont 1992
The Hudson Gallery, Hudson, NY 1992
SUNY Oneonta Gallery, Oneonta, NY 1992
The Wellesley Hotel Gallery, Thousand Island Park, NY 1991,
93, 95
Selected Honors & Juried Shows . . .
Individual artist grant, NY State Council on the Arts, 2004
Adirondack Express Award, Adirondacks National Exhibition of
American Watercolors, Old Forge,
NY 1999
Pastel Society of America National Exhibition, National Arts
Club, NYC; 1996(award), 1997 (award),
1998, 99, 00, 01.
American Watercolor Society National Exhibition - Salmagundi
Club, 5th Ave. NYC, 1996&99
The American Artists Professional League National Exhibition
- Salmagundi Club, NYC, 1996
Winsor & Newton Ltd. Edition Collector Calendar Selectee,
1994The Artist’s Magazine Annual Competition - 2nd
in landscape, 1992; Cover Competition
Golden Circle Award, 1994
Munson Williams Proctor Institute 40th Watercolor
Exhibition, Utica NY
Frederick Remington Art Museum Watercolor Exhibition, Ogdensburgh, NY
Northeast Watercolor Society National Exhibition, Goshen, NY: Award, 1999
American Frame Award, 1998
Northeast Watercolor Society Award, 1996-97
Edith Pelin Award, 1994
Times Herald Record Award, 1993
Richard VanTieghhem Memorial Award, 1992
Silver Bay Association Award, Adirondack Park Centennial
Watercolor Exhibition (included in traveling exhibition), 1992
Merit Award, 15th Annual Non-member Salmagundi Art
Exhibition, NYC
Best of Show, 1991,92,93, Pruyn House Annual Juried
Exhibition, Loudonville, NY
Stockade Award Winner, Schenectady Museum, Schenectady, NY
1990, 91, 93 & 95
Rotary Club Award, Cooperstown Art Association’s Annual
National Art Exhibition, Cooperstown, NY 1992
Merit Award, Cooperstown Art Association’s Annual National
Art Exhibiton 1997
9th International Juried Exhibit of Pastels, Pen
& Brush Gallery, NYC
Julia Lucille Award, 10th International Juried
Exhibit of Pastels, Watchung Art Center, NJ
Award Winner, National Small Works Exhibition, Schoharie
County Arts Council, Cobleskill, NY 1991
Affiliations . . .
Juried Member: The Pastel Society of America
Northeast Watercolor Society
Oakroom Artists - Capital District professional artists
Other:
PA Farmland Trust Artists Workshop
Teacher, Hudson River Valley Art Workshops
State University of NY at Cobleskill - mini-program
instructor
Guest presenter at Colonie Art League, Bethlehem Art League,
Schenectady Art Association & Elmira Art Association
Galleries . . .
Picture Perfect Gallery, Canajoharie, NY
Pioneer Gallery, Cooperstown, NY (summer season)
Local Color Gallery, Latham, NY
Work Published in . . .
American Artist Magazine Feature artist, the pastel
page, 1999Capture the Charm of Your Hometown in Watercolor
by Frank Loudin, North Light Books,
Cincinnati, Ohio, 1998 (guest artist) Winsor & Newton
Limited Edition Collector’s Calendar, 1994The
Artist’s Magazine December 1992 & August 1994100
Great Watercolor Tips by Miranda Fellows, Quarto Publishing
1994 Trees, Flowers & Foliage by Patricia Seligman,
Quarto Publishing 1994Texture: How to Draw it, How to Paint it
by Martin Davidson, Quarto Publishing, London,
England 1993 Painting the Effects of Weather by
Patricia Seligman, Quarto Publishing, London, England
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