Janathel Shaw: Ceramic Portraits

September 16, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

"There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud," Carl Sandburg once said--words that clay sculptor Janathel Shaw can relate to. Her recent clay works can be seen at Touchstone Gallery from Sept. 6-29, 2013. As a teen, Jan was inspired by teachers at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and sculptor Elizabeth Catlett (who she was fortunate to meet). She relished in half day-studio classes staying late into the evenings to hone her art skills. Over time, attended Howard University, Prince Georges Community College and George Washington University. Jan received her Bachelors and Masters from George Washington University.

Linda Bankerd "Va•ri•e•ty is the Spice of Life"

September 9, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

There must be something in the New York state water. Everyone I know who grew up there became an artist. Linda Bankerd is no exception. As a child she loved to draw concentrating on detail and laying the groundwork for later studies. During her four years at the College of mount saint Vincent in New York City, Linda broadened her outlook, studying as many art processes as she could. Then, as often happens, her art took a back seat to jobs in far flung places. Linda and her husband Paul first put in a stint in the Peace Corps in Cali Columbia which was interrupted by a call to military service. He joined the Navy and took the family to North Carolina where Linda was able to attend graduate school, obtaining an MAT.

The EYE of Pete McCutchen

July 7, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

Nothing escapes the eye of Pete McCutchen. From dilapidated sheds to scrap yards, to expansive Midwestern Wind Farms to soaring roller coasters, his subjects vary, but his unique vision touches them all. His most recent show, GEOMETRICS, features a dozen bold images. Shot within a 72 hour period in a three block area, the GEOMETRICS series is a tour de force of lush color and precise composition.

Mary Ott: The Precision of Asymmetry

June 28, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

If you know Mary Ott, you know that attention to detail, pattern and organization are three of her strong suits. This was true when she was a youngster, too. Science and math were significant ingredients in her "recipe" of life. Added to that were a little pinch of violin, the freedom to roam the fields just outside her Cleveland, Ohio suburban home and stirring companionship of one brother and two sisters.

Harvey Kupferberg: Photographer Ex•tra•or•di•naire

May 31, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

When Harvey started his photographic endeavors more than thirty years ago, he specialized in black and white images. His chemistry background served him well as he explored and experimented with exposure and development techniques in the darkroom. After the advent of digital photography, his challenges were just as complex and involved a variety of different technologies, the digital camera, the computer and its software, and the printer. Being an inquisitive person, Harvey was up for the challenge.

Aina Nergaard-Nammack: The Language of Music and Color

May 30, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

Aina in studio

A child of a Norwegian father and a Spanish mother, Aina spent her early years toggling between school in the frigid north to hot summers in the heart of Spain -- a life that was bound to teach her many languages. Five to be exact. Add to that sum Aina's study of various "languages" in the visual arts. First with her mother on painting excursions to the "White Villages" in the south of Spain, practicing in her mother's studio in Seville, and then being instructed formally in art school where she was required to copy the Old Masters, including Velasquez, Vermeer and Goya.

Marcia Coppel Figures of Speech

May 5, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

You might not have guessed it, but the quiet artist we know as Marcia Coppel spent many years as a speech pathologist in the Montgomery County Public Schools. As a child she was drawn to the visual arts, graduating high school with a major in art. After that her studies at George Washington University took her in the direction of speech therapy, which became her major and her field of expertise after securing a post-graduate degree from the University of Maryland.

Leslie Johnston Journeys to Sacred Spaces and Places

April 22, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

Growing up in the Mile High City with the mountains at her back Leslie Johnston developed an affinity for high places and the beauty of the mountains. As a kid she spent a lot of time out of doors observing wildlife and the colors in a world that would call her again and again to seek out natural wonders in high places.

Janet Wheeler: Dreaming the Circle of Life

April 3, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

Janet Wheeler grew up in Dutchess County, New York, a place once inhabited by native Wappinger peoples before the Anglo-Dutch settled there in the 1600's. Although Janet had no contact with those indigenous peoples, the wildness of the area and perhaps some Native dreams eventually worked their way into her psyche to be expressed in sculptural form. As a kid Janet loved exploring the forest and making art. As an adult, after obtaining her art degree from Stanford, she and her husband moved to Switzerland and then to Ithaca, New York. Home again she again "went wild" exploring the 30 foot waterfalls, pools and lakes in the natural world that called to her.

Steve Alderton's ICONS

March 20, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

Icon No. 4 By Steve Alderton

Vibrant colors, free flowing brushstrokes, enticing textures, and layers of interconnected geometry anchored amongst elegant shapes, this is the alluring realm of Steve Alderton. A true expressionist, Alderton, prefers for his paintings to speak for themselves. Figuratively, he lays out a colorful and emotive walkway, asks and demands nothing of the viewer, except to experience your own journey along his beautifully painted path.

Timothy Johnson's Single Figure Narratives

March 5, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

Tim paints a friend in the company of Mondrion and Wyeth

Tim could be your ordinary picture framer during the day, or a master of disguise at night--or maybe both. You never know with Tim Johnson. He's a painter of human complexities using friends for models or capturing himself in mirrors and lenses. What transpires in his imagination as he stands before a blank canvas and opens tubes of paint is anybody's guess.

“UNFILTERED” by Leslie M. Nolan

January 31, 2013 Touchstone Gallery

Within each brush-stroke, a poetic tinge of mystery, a sophisticated flick of intrigue, a provocative expedition of color and form playing along the canvas: welcome to the painted world of Leslie M. Nolan.

Uncovering the Magic of the Universe: Bill Mould

December 13, 2012 Touchstone Gallery

Bill calls himself a ceramic sculptor -- one who works at taking clay from the earth and transforming it into sculptures, which recall ancient myths. The clay, heavy to begin with, becomes light and intensely fragile as he works with it. He makes art in order to stir new ways of thinking and experiencing the world both for himself and for those who view the finished pieces.

On Being Nomadic: Gale Wallar

December 4, 2012 Touchstone Gallery

For Gale, who was born into a military family, being nomadic was the norm. That, and a rich exposure to art, architecture and history. Art is the course that Gale set for herself as a child and she has stuck to it during some circuitous turns and long journeys. After achieving a BFA in painting and printmaking, she freelanced in Washington D.C. and some of her political cartoons were published in the Washington Post.

The Whole Ball of Wax: Georgia Nassikas

November 22, 2012 Touchstone Gallery

Georgia Nassikas, a new Touchstone artist, paints in the encaustic medium, so she has something in common with the ancient Egyptians who painted mummy portraits 1700 years ago -- and more recently Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, Diego Rivera, Jasper Johns, just to name a few. All these artists painted at some time in their lives with the encaustic medium: hot beeswax infused with colored pigments.

Photography: The Observant Eye: Micheal Lang

November 1, 2012 Touchstone Gallery

It takes an observant eye, two eyes, or even three to catch the essence of a person on film. Mike Lang has the prerequisite three eyes -- two in his head and one in his camera. Being a social documentary photographer, he's had a camera in front of his face since he started taking shots of pool players in Baltimore. That was back when he was a wet-behind-the-ears kid in 1957. Mike photographs all over the country and even in places like Thailand. But this time around in 2012, Mike hung out at the Town Dance Boutique on weekends off and on for eight months, observing the drag queens and how illusion was created by them through makeup, costume, and performance.

Out of Chaos: Rosemary Luckett

October 29, 2012 Touchstone Gallery

Whether an artist's studio is neat as a pin or heaped full of brushes, tools, clay or wood, disorder characterizes the creative process. A chaotic jumble of ideas spill out of the brain and become organized in drawn or painted forms. Tubes of color sort themselves out, then are squeezed onto the palette in a jumble of mixed hues. A teapot spout, in a box of cast-offs, offers itself to the sculptor as the beginning of a bird with a long neck. A dream works its way to the conscious surface, suggesting a vision that emerges in material form from a chunk of clay.

The Touchstone Community: History Highlights

September 30, 2010 Touchstone Gallery

Artist-owned Touchstone Gallery has maintained a reputation for exhibiting contemporary work of high quality, vision and innovation by top-notch artists. Since the beginning, Touchstone’s mission remains unaltered: to enrich the lives of the community through exhibits of diverse contemporary collections of visual art; to promote a rich variety of artistic talent in the DC region; to connect collectors with its artists; and to foster continuing artistic and career growth of participating artist through encouragement and support. As a member owned and managed gallery, Touchstone artists enjoy the right to guide gallery policies and control their solo exhibitions. For each piece seen in any given monthly exhibit, countless others are located in each artist’s studio. Our director, artists and staffers are readily available for discussing all artwork types, techniques, and commission possibilities.