BELLOWS FALLS — “Clare Adams: Painting With Light,” the first of Canal Street Art Gallery's fall lineup of solo shows, opens Wednesday, Sept. 8 and will be on view to the public through Saturday, Oct. 9.
On Friday, Sept. 17 - Third Friday Gallery Night - the public is invited to meet Adams and celebrate the exhibit of her recent work from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Outdoor Art Tent and in the Gallery. A live artist talk begins at 6 p.m.
Adams, of Cambridgeport, uses the traditional techniques of reverse painting, enameling, and staining glass to depict a detailed view of the cycle of natural life on the farm and in the garden.
Painted and stained entirely by the artist, her artworks use traditional materials and methods like silver stain, and the grisaille technique, in which black paint is scratched away and color is applied on top.
Starting with recycled window glass, this process requires numerous firings in Adams' solar-powered kiln and uses modern, nontoxic enamel formulas. Each artwork is composed of many of these hand-painted and -stained pieces of glass soldered together in patterns inspired by quilts.
“I have always been interested in light and color, and glass painting adds an extra and exciting dimension both visually and technically,” Adams said in a news release.
“This new work has been satisfying to me as it combines my interests in painting, glass, color, craft, light, and the natural world,” she continued.
Noting that her patterns have been inspired by American quilts, Adams said she has been looking at traditional styles as well as “the stunning asymmetrical styles of, specifically, African American quilts.”
“To me each piece feels like a prayer,” she said. “An earth prayer collecting light energy for healing and renewal!”
Adams' current work in glass is informed by her career as a painter and printmaker. First arriving in Vermont as an assistant in the glass studio of Robert DuGrenier of Townshend, she continues to present an evolving and experimental practice using old world methods and lost art techniques along with modern materials. She has studied at the Corning School of Glass in NY, and with domestic and foreign masters of the techniques of reverse painting and enameling glass.
Canal Street Art Gallery, at 23 Canal St., is open Wednesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Parties of three at a time are admitted to the gallery.
For more information, visit canalstreetartgallery.com, call Emmett S. Dunbar and Michael C. Noyes at 802-289-0104, or send emails to artinfo@canalstreetartgallery.com.