Exhibiting Artists A&M July 2023

Speakers: Laurel Lukaszewski, Artist . Schroeder Cherry, Assemblage Artist

Schroeder Cherry: I've had the opportunity to be a guest artist at Artists & Makers twice. The first time I showed a series called The Barbershop Series. And that was inspired by visits to barbershops in Maryland and also in Washington DC. Examples of that series are here and here. I also showed a series called The Angel Can series. And those are works that were made from cans, spice cans or coffee cans are the body. The wings and the head are made out of wood. Sometimes I used Old Bay cans such as this piece here. The body is an Old Bay can, the wings and head are wood, and the head comes off. It's a container. The second time I exhibited at Artists & Makers, I showed a series called Future Voters, and that was inspired by young people who are experiencing the elections going on right now, and maybe not understanding some things like why it's illegal to pass out water or food while waiting in line to vote. They may not understand these things now, but they might reflect on it later on when they become eligible to vote. Examples of pieces from that series, which is ongoing are here and here. I work in series.

Laurel Lukaszewski: Hi, my name is Laurel Lukaszewski and my show at Artists & Makers Gallery is Gardens Of Desire. It is a ceramic exhibition of both figurative and functional work. using both porcelain and black stoneware.

David Amoroso: Hi I'm David Amoroso Hi I'm David Amoroso and I've been fortunate to exhibit at Artists & Makers Studios several times over the years. My very first exhibit there was a tribute to Frida Kahlo, and it featured about two dozen portraits I had created of her. I did another exhibit entitled Raised by TV and it was all images of TV icons from the seventies. What I really enjoyed about that exhibit is that it was really playful, a little bit less serious than many other exhibits you might see. And it really gave us an opportunity to sort of play and have fun and remember, I think some really great iconic moments in TV. Most recently I did an exhibit entitled Top of the Pops and it featured all music icons that I grew up with and still appreciate.

Schroeder Cherry: My favorite part of exhibiting at A&M was not only being able to share my works with people I've never met before, but also being able to pop in and visit artists who are working in their own studios. A&M is a hotbed of creativity with artists working in a variety of mediums, and being in that space with my exhibit and also being able to visit other artists, that was a really good rich exchange. I enjoyed that.

Laurel Lukaszewski: My favorite part of exhibiting at Artists & Makers Studios has been just the wonderful people I've met, both guests coming into the gallery and also the artists who work here on a daily basis. I've had some really wonderful conversations and have really enjoyed telling them about my work, and also learning a lot about theirs. It's a great community and a great environment to both show my work, and I think for the people who are here to make their work, and then also to share what they're doing with others so it's been a pleasure.

David Amaroso: My favorite My favorite part of working with Artists & Makers Studios honestly is all the artists there. I've met, you know, so many great people there who have honestly been a source of inspiration and collaboration and even support over the years, especially Judith HeartSong. I have to say she's really been a really strong advocate for all of the artists there as well as me over the years.

Schroeder Cherry: My work is best described as assemblage, assemblage, if you're French, or collage. I work on wood because that gives me a stronger foundation than painting on canvas, which is what I used to do. But I got to a point where I was abusing the canvas. I was cutting and scraping and burning and adding pieces to it and needed a stronger foundation, so wood actually works for me. This is an example of a smaller piece. This is from the Rainbow Keeper series and you can see that I've added things here, buttons and glass pieces. I have shaped the the wood using power tools, and this is how I work in with all of my pieces with the larger works as well. I work in series because that gives me an opportunity to explore an idea and just to see how many ways I can go about expressing an idea. I'm interested in telling a story, but I'm not interested in there being just one story. In fact, many times I like to eavesdrop in a gallery just to hear what people are saying about the work without them knowing that I'm the artist. And when you get the unfiltered conversation, that's where you get some rich stuff.

Laurel Lukaszewski: To tell you a little bit more about my work, I work with clay. I typically use a white porcelain. It's an English Grolleg porcelain and a black stoneware. The rabbits behind me are made with the black stoneware. I hand build them, and the white decoration on them is porcelain slip. So it's basically I'm drawing with liquid porcelain on the surface of the clay and then I fire it once up to cone six. My blue and white pieces are porcelain, and then I do the decorations in under glaze, whether it's a black under glaze, like this where it's matte and shiny or a blue and white, like this, which is porcelain, and I hand paint and hand draw all of the designs on the pieces themselves. So it's a lot of fun. I love, I love working with clay and I really have enjoyed this experience, sharing it with everyone.

David Amaroso: Regarding my work, I'd have to say it's pop art. My background was in photography. And so I work from photos a lot of the time. If I'm not working from photos, I've created, I always choose images that look like photos I could have taken had I had the opportunity. I really like clean lines and sort of a, a clear graphic approach to the way I paint. And I honestly, I can't think of any other way to do it. I think there are other artists that have more of a painterly style. And I think a lot of mine, my style would be technique more than anything else.