'The Colors of Light` opens tonight

As the colors of autumn fade away, the Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park`s new exhibit "The Colors of Light" explodes with color, light and design. Opening on Friday, Oct. 16 in the CAC`s Fine Art Gallery in Estes Park, the exhibition celebrates the diverse work by eight Northern Colorado artists, including Mark James, Kelly Kotary, Russ Longgrear, Jennifer Nauck, Cheryl Pennington, Eli Roehl, Heather Stone and Michael J. Vogel. Each artist uniquely captures the light and the colors within working in a variety of artistic medium and subject matter. Work featured includes painting, photography, fused glass, off-hand blown glass, jewelry, and mixed media glass boxes.

Mark James has been a photographer for over twenty years. He is self-taught and has worked in virtually every area of the medium, from photojournalist to commercial photographer to fine art gallery owner and everything in between.

Kelly Kotary`s goal as an oil painter is to try and capture the essence of whatever the subject may be light on a patch of tall grass, the texture of an onion skin-while exploring all the different possibilities the media offers. Her love of oil paint and all the unlimited textures and colors is a motivating force in her work. From the thinnest of transparent glazes to huge chunky impasto strokes, Kotary strives to engage each viewer to explore the many levels of light of each painting.

Russ Longgrear began his interest in working with stained glass and started building three-dimensional forms such as jewelry boxes, display cases, kaleidoscopes, and even model airplanes over twenty years ago. In the last few years, he has turned his interest towards creating with the colorful dichroic glass. Russ mixes the reflective colors of the glass with his unique use of design and applies the combined effects to create elegant bowls and platters. He recently has added jewelry to his use of dichroic glass.

Jennifer Nauck, when blowing off hand glass, relies on efficiency and fluidity of movement to create simple, elegant, well-balanced pieces. Her designs have evolved -- after years of learning how the glass holds heat, how it moves at different temperatures, and how it responds to subtle changes in angle and speed of rotation. In preparation for "The Colors of Light," she pushed beyond her perceived limits, and has created several platters, vases and wall pieces radiating in individual and blended colors, and in symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes and forms.

Cheryl Pennington moved to the Estes Park area in 1978. Upon retiring from her career as a teacher, she began to pursue her interest in black and white photography. She began printing her own pictures and hand coloring them, using Marshall Oils and pencils to color the photographs. Pennington also re-photographs and prints historic photos from the Northern Colorado front range area. Historically, many black and white photos were hand colored before the advent of color film. Barbara Clatworthy Gish, daughter of the well known late Estes Park photographer Fred Payne Clatworthy, has given Pennington permission to hand color many of her father`s historic images, and several will be included in the exhibition.

Eleanor (Eli) Roehl works in the pristine beauty across from a 14,000-foot peak in the Rockies. In this remote studio, her appreciation and awe of nature is reflected in unique, one-of-a-kind art jewelry. She uses hand-built, fused precious metals in abstract and expressionistic designs. After living in the Caribbean, Eli fell in love with the vibrant colors of aqua and blue-green, which she incorporates into her jewelry. She personally selects the colorful semi-precious stones she uses in her designs. Inspired by the stones themselves, as well as a connection to spirit that is intuitively recognized by those who are drawn to her work, she creates earrings, pins, pendants, rings, and bracelets. Her elegance of style translates into highly collectible jewelry that appeals to an upscale, sophisticated market.

, Heather Glismann Stone began her career as a glass artist while recuperating from a motorcycle accident in 1978. Stone learned to make stained glass windows to pass the time. By 1980, Stone had started to design glass boxes with inlaid seashells. Her glass work has been in several galleries, museums gift shops and high end craft shops across the country. Stone also incorporates her original photography, antiqued postcards and fused glass pieces that she has made in her original glass works.

Michael J. Vogel started his love of photography as a young boy growing up in the Chicago, IL suburbs. With a Brownie 35 mm camera, he started photographing in black and white, eventually moving on to Kodacrome film and his exploration of color photography. Vogel`s love of nature and wildlife is the driving force in his work today. Working in both 35 mm and digital formats, he enjoys capturing the United States from coast to coast. Vogel has documented lighthouses on the Pacific Ocean and shorelines of the Great Lakes, and many of the western national parks. He also travels abroad, and has documented the splendor of Canada and Germany. Vogel will be showing several archival photographic digital giclees on canvas that capture wildlife and the scenic beauty of Rocky Mountain National Park in the exhibition.

The public is invited to attend an opening reception for the "The Colors of Light" on Friday, Oct. 16, at the CAC Fine Art Gallery located at 423 W. Elkhorn Ave from 5 to 8 p.m. Refreshments and hors d`oeuvres will be served. Musical entertainment will be provided by Cynthia Hoyle on the CAC 1930 Baldwin grand piano.

The exhibition will run through Nov. 8, and the gallery is open daily 12 noon to 5 p.m. or by appointment. For more information call the Cultural Arts Council of Estes Park at 970-586-9203 or e-mail: info@estesarts.com.

The Cultural Arts Council is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit arts organization with the mission to enhance the quality and accessibility of visual and performing arts for people of all ages. All program revenues go back in serving the greater Estes Valley and its visitor population.