“After the Charm: In the Name of Autumn”, 2022 NBAS Watercolor & Mixed Media Exhibition

Exhibition on Display: October 26, 2022 – January 14, 2023

Virtual Opening Reception: November 3, 2022 @6:30pm to 9pm

In-Person Reception: November 11, 2022 @6:30pm to 9pm

This season, Alfa Art gallery opens to showcase watercolor and mixed media works in “After the Charm: In the Name of Autumn.” Alfa’s New Brunswick Art Salon (NBAS) once again will open to feature watercolor and mixed media artists both native to New Jersey and beyond. The selected artists create a diverse grouping of professionals. The group of artists featured in this year’s show present evocative and innovative uses of watercolor and mixed media to express their vision. Each artist featured, draws on varied inspirations to present their unique viewpoints of the world that surrounds them.

“After the Charm: In the Name of Autumn” is a heart-warming watercolor exhibition that reminds people it’s time to take a deep breath and celebrates the arrival of autumn. Under the glamor of autumn, this exhibition invites people to an immersive trip to slow down in life, to savor and enjoy the little things and the nature surrounding us, as well as to meditate and reflect on how life is going so far.

Showcasing a total of 16 artists, they include works from Ken Hamilton with his careful and captivating landscapes, Karen Starrett’s layered and textured compositions as well as Trica Miho’s flowing, elegant humanoid forms. Alfa Art Gallery invites you to join us for another eye-opening exhibition. “After the Charm: In the Name of Autumn” can be viewed from Tuesday through Saturday, 11 am to 6 pm at Alfa Art Gallery.

“After the Charm: In the Name of Autumn”, 2022 NBAS Watercolor & Mixed Media Virtual Exhibition

Gallery Opening Reception:

With regards to our new normal as a nation, Alfa Art Gallery has successfully implemented virtual exhibitions via the Artsteps virtual gallery software and will continue to do so for this exhibition. These virtual and physical displays, although independent of one another, will have their receptions on the same date and be showcased simultaneously throughout the duration of this exhibition. We will also be utilizing the Zoom web communications platform for this virtual reception, as well as for the interviews conducted with the confirmed artists for this show.  

Alfa Art Gallery will be holding virtual opening reception and in-person opening reception as an open event. The links to this opening can be found on Alfa Art Gallery’s Website and all social media closer to exhibition opening. The links to this opening can be found on Alfa Art Gallery’s Website and all social media closer to the exhibition opening. Alfa’s staff and interns are working to keep all visitors safe and healthy. We have implemented safety measures along with the CDC guidelines. These include wearing face masks indoors, maintaining limited capacity, and providing a clean and safe environment.

Virtual Opening Reception:

Feature Artists:

Aprajita Lal: Inspired by nature and her own experiences, Aprajita Lal’s art aims to share with her audience the joy that she finds in nature. She has a master’s in computer applications but is a Self-taught and New Jersey-based artist. Aprajita largely uses watercolors to share happiness with her work. She has exhibited her work across New York and New Jersey as well as hosted in-person and online workshops.

Elza Artamontzeva studied her craft in Bulgaria and currently works out of Germany. Her work is inspired by the interplay of opposites in the world, this idea creates flowing, bright compositions. In her own words, her method follows “the experiment”. Elza’s works create a spontaneous image that still contains deliberate symbols and messages.

Hana Aviv: In her paintings, Hana Aviv lets us peer through the lenses through that she sees the world. Born in the Czech Republic, and originally pursuing a career in biology she has always maintained an artistic practice. She gained training at Montclair Art Museum and Mason Gross School of the Arts: Zimmerli Art Museum Drawing Society for Adults. Hana mainly works in watercolor, focusing on lines, shapes, and unity of design and color in each piece.

Hema A. Bharadwaj earned her MFA at the School of Visual Arts in 1999 and has since been honing her craft. In her work, she draws upon her lived experience to express both chaos and calm. She also is inspired by Indian miniature paintings. Currently, she is exploring emotions and its impact on the food we cook, and our inner landscapes through watercolor techniques.

Dr Indrani Choudhury was a biomedical research scientist for 25 years, in India as well as, many years in the US. Since 2006 she has shifted her career to focus on her passion for painting. She works only in watercolors to produce her energetic works. Her technique is unique in the way that it produces a texture and material quality similar to that of oil and acrylic paintings. Her paintings aim to represent the way that she sees the world, inspired by her own vibrant life and extensive travels.

Joel Popadics: Working as a professional artist for over 30 years, though he started his career learning oil painting, Joel Popadics has fallen in love with watercolor and its essence. His work is inspired by the time he spends outdoors and sometimes created in it but is first and foremost grounded in light. He uses the material properties of the watercolor to create an emotional response in his audience. Sometimes a familiar vision evokes a feeling. His atmospheric paintings have their own light and air to them.

Karen Starrett works out of the Jersey Shore, she studied at Rutgers University and the School of Visual Arts. Starrett’s process in creating her works is intuitive. She creates mixed media pieces by combining elements from her own collection of papers as well as her own works on paper. Her intuitive sense of the line and color in her works merges to create harmonious imagery.

Ken C Hamilton was influenced by art from an early age with his father making commissions of his own. From there Hamilton’s career flourished into what it is today. He went on to pursue his education centred around art starting at Spokane Falls College and then eventually attending the School of Visual Arts in New York. In his recent work, he is intrigued by landscapes, hoping to represent forgotten lifestyles while still inspiring a journey through the contemporary world.

Laura Beard lives and works in Ewing, New Jersey she uses many media in her work and largely centres her work around birds and animals. Her work focuses on capturing the beauty and uniqueness of the individual. She does so with great detail and a dynamic focus on her subjects. Yet, her works still convey a great amount of softness and character from her subjects.

MaryAnn Goodwin is an artist based out of Neptune, NJ with an extensive background in graphic design and watercolor. The award-winning artist studied at Caldwell University earning her BFA in painting as well as minoring in graphic design. She then went on to have her works in exhibits all around the tri-state and also went on to teach her craft to others. She hopes to inspire a visceral response with her paintings.

MaryLou Shipman works out of Ocean Grove, New Jersey in distinctive realism. Being taught Chinese watercolor and traditional realism has nurtured her love of watercolor as well as informed her personal style. Her surroundings also inspire her works, giving them a distinctive feeling of place. Working with the layering of the medium, a tight and naturalistic image is achieved in Shipman’s works.

Orna Greenberg: Working out of New Jersey, Orna Greenberg is an artist with a multitude of inspirations. Ranging from medieval court fabrics, fruit and vegetables, to infrastructure her paintings convey many subjects. The mundane and ordinary objects are her main inspiration, through which she interprets and communicates their stories. Her large-scale atmospheric paintings radiate rich textures forgetting the mundane nature that they begin with. She paints directly without sketching so that her artwork retains the exuberance of the brush that she paints with. Her varied mark-making techniques and mix of watercolor and gouache create rich and decadent scenes.

Padma Aleti: A self-taught artist, Padma Aleti has always been driven to create he work and has found watercolor to be the medium for her. She is inspired by boldness and simplicity in the works of other artists and the spontaneous nature of watercolor informs her works. However, her process takes place in many layers. There is a focus on light and color in Aleti’s works that bring them alive. The layers of her work create great detail while retaining the spontaneity of their medium.

Peggy Dressel: Working out of New Jersey, Peggy Dressel creates pieces in watercolor. Her work focuses on the play of light and shadow that she is able to achieve with the medium. Through different washes of color and complimentary colors she brings to life vibrant scenes. There is a great deal of luminosity in her works, conveying the mood, place, and time of day.

Spriha Gupta, currently works out of New Jersey making her mixed media paintings. She is highly influenced by her Indian cultural roots and shows this in her work through her bold use of bright colors. She uses found objects and layers in her works to create unique textures as well as, iconic symbolism to depict concepts close to her heart. She hopes to bring others out of isolation and engage her audience in a dialogue with her artwork. Her artworks are entirely spontaneous through her process, she creates nothing that is preconceived. Her deeply personal paintings are evocative of different emotions through her free-flowing process, of creating her own living and breathing landscapes.

Tricia Miho is an artist from Argentina, who now works in New Jersey. She has traveled extensively in her life, creating her unique perspective. In her current works, she draws on the human form to create flowing humanoid figures. Her works are informed by her experimentation with photography and photo manipulation and a new way of visualizing her compositions. Her works experiment with the shapes and forms present in the human body while incorporating a distinctive use of color. Her work offers a unique viewpoint to see the human body.

About the “New Brunswick Art Salon” Exhibitions:

Alfa Art Gallery utilizes New Brunswick Art Salons (NBAS) to unify the local art community and beyond. Since starting the program in 2010 Alfa Gallery has made a point to include a salon dedicated to showcasing oil and mixed media artworks. Over the years, the NBAS has not only exhibited works from both established and emerging artists but has also made fruitful connections locally and internationally through its successful programs. Within this non-profit organization, Alfa Art Gallery maintains its mission to uplift artists by providing an open and innovative environment. These exhibitions are free and open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday from 11 am to 6 pm.

Alfa Art Gallery is sponsored by the following: