AKASHA -reception

Westport, CT – January 27, 2012 - Rockwell Art Galleries in Westport present AKASHA featuring eclectic mixed media painter Karen Recor Green, inventive multi-media artist Elise Black, and intriguing watercolorist Rosalind Oesterle from January 27th- April 21st . The public is invited to an opening reception on Friday January 27th from 5:30-7:30PM. The event is free and open to the public. Rockwell Art and Framing of Westport is located at 236 Post Rd East Westport, CT 06880. 203-227-1800.

Karen Recor Green infuses ancient influences into her spiritual painting style. She draws inspiration from her readings and extensive travels from all around the world to fuel her imagery. Colors radiate from within textured layers and energy radiates from the large brush strokes and accents of line. She has turned to unconventional uses of material such as cold wax, cloth scraps, natural objects, and calligraphic line to add dimension to her work. Karen has an M.F.A from Hartford Art School at University of Hartford where she studied with NY artist Susan Wilmarth Rabineau. Her art has been shown internationally and is collected both privately as well as for corporate use.

Elise Black combines multiple art forms into her work. Her love of all mediums combined with her background in illustration and fashion and textile design. She later started her own company which provided companies such as Rossignol, Mistral, and Olympic Games licenses with full design and merchandising services.

Her design background forged an interest in architectural elements which translated into figurative imaginative sculpture. Ms. Black began to experiment with large-scale sculpture leading to the 2001 commission of the permanent site-specific sculpture installations outside of Saugatuck and Kings Highway Elementary Schools in Westport, CT. She also paints prolifically and continues to enjoy experimenting with many different materials in her 2 and 3 dimensional artwork. Her work has sold to many private collectors here and abroad and is part of many corporate collections. Elise is a past president of the New York Society of Women Artists, and is affiliated with the Society of Ct. Sculptors and the New Canaan Sculpture Society. She lends her time and talent to various schools and charities and is a board member of Project Return, a residential facility for troubled teen-aged girls in Westport, CT.

Rosalind Oesterle, a graduate of Skidmore College and Columbia University, studied drawing and painting and later attended subsequent workshops with Ed Whitney, Claude Croney, Don Andrews and other well-known watercolorists. She grew to love watercolors as she spent summers painting in northern Vermont with her family.  Her rural themes and nature studies developed during this time and continued to be the focus of her work for many years. Her knowledge and appreciation of nature and particularly wildflowers produced paintings portraying accurate detail with fluid, flowing abstract backgrounds. In recent years, the abstract or non-objective aspect of Oesterle’s work continues to dominate as a design theme with only a suggestion of the original subject matter. The resulting artistic expression allows both artist and viewer new dimensions of discovery and communication.

Mrs. Oesterle’s paintings have been exhibited in the juried shows of the American Watercolor Society, the Hudson Valley Art Association, The Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club,   The National Arts Club, The Salmagundi Club and Audubon Artists. She is a Juried Member of the Hudson Valley Art Association, The Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club and a Signature Member of the American Watercolor Society. Her work has been shown in many galleries including the Blue Heron Gallery in Wellfleet, MA in which she was an original exhibitor. Her paintings have been reproduced since 1980 and have been sold throughout the United States and Europe. Among her many awards Oesterle is the recipient of First Place in Watercolor at the Mystic Art Festival, First Place in Watercolor at the Westport Art Festival and in 2006 she received the Best in Show award at the Mystic Art Festival. In 2007 and 2008 she received the Best in Watercolor award at The Glastonbury Art Show and was the featured artist in the 2007 Summer Edition of The Armonk Magazine. In 2009 she received the First Place in Watercolor award at the Armonk Outdoor Art Show and First Place in Watercolor at the Mystic Art Festival in 2010.