Press Release #16 February 2007 NEW HOPE SIDETRACKS ART GALLERY 2A STOCKTON AVENUE NEW HOPE, PA 18938 215 862 4586 newhopesidetrackscomcast.net nhsidetracks.com New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery Presents: Ménage à Tree Paintings and works on paper by local artists Elizabeth Miller McCue Leah K. Tomaino Betty Jacobsen February 24 through April 1, 2007 Artist Reception Saturday, February 24, 2007, 6-9 PM New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery presents Ménage à Tree, a mid-winter exhibit of paintings and works on paper reflecting natural forms—from the bare limbs of winter to spring’s buds, blossoms and blooms—by Elizabeth Miller McCue (bio), Leah K. Tomaino (bio) and Betty Jacobsen (bio). A Reception for the Artists will be held at Sidetracks on Saturday evening, February 24, 2007, from 6:00 to 9:00 P.M. The artwork featured at Sidetracks covers a wide stylistic range—intimate and imaginative oils, finely detailed drawings, large-scale oils on paper and patterned collages. Elizabeth Miller McCue of Yardley, Pennsylvania, more widely known as a sculptor of large forms, shares in this exhibition her passion for drawing both as finished artwork and as preparation for sculptures later cast in bronze. Her work on view ranges from the monumental oil to the simple pencil sketch, each work revealing both a hand aware of line and an eye concerned with depth of field. Center stage at Sidetracks will be a smaller version of her signature Haystack sculpture, familiar to New Hope from her large steel and bronze Haystacks in the Field now on the lawn of First National Bank and Trust of Newtown at the intersection of Routes 202 and 179. This installation forms part of the 2006-2007 Outdoor Sculpture Walk presented for the fourth year by New Hope Arts, Inc. A slightly different Haystacks in the Field, Number 2, is permanently sited at Sculpture at Cherokee in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. Elizabeth McCue’s work has graced several of the annual Indoor Sculpture Shows of New Hope Arts, Inc. In addition, her work has recently been seen at Gallery in the Garden at Hawk Mountain; The James A. Michener Museum of Doylestown; Dieu Donné Papermill’s 2006 Benefit Auction in Manhattan; the Capitol Hill Sculpture Project in Washington, D.C.; and Haverford’s Main Line Art Center’s Kites: Art Takes Flight, the 2006 Public Art Project. Her work for Kites, A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned, was permanently installed in early February at Project H.O.M.E. in Philadelphia. Awards have included a 1991 First Prize for New Art of Pennsylvania, and the 1995 Sculpture Prize at the Cooperstown National in New York State. Elizabeth is a graduate of Vassar College, and has also studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London; the Art Students League of New York City and at the New York Studio School. She has recently been invited by Saatchi Gallery of London to post a selection of her artworks on the Saatchi web site later in 2007. Leah K. Tomaino of Randolph, New Jersey, explores trees in all their majesty and beauty, their strength and fragility. Her mastery of many mediums—pencil, gouache, acrylic, oil, collage—is unified not only by her subject matter of trees but by her fine hand and strong sense of fluid composition. She confesses herself to be taken aback by the beauty and intangible qualities of trees: the various textures of their barks; the different spreads of their crowns; their amazing flowers and fruits and foliage; and most of all, their spectacular rejuvenation after what appears to be a most definite death in the bleakness of a cold, dark winter. Leah has most recently exhibited her collages, paintings and drawings at the Reform-Studio in Long Valley, New Jersey; The Madison Gallery of Morristown Hospital also in New Jersey; The Haggerty Education Center of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown; and on numerous occasions The Atlantic Gallery in New York City. Her recent acrylic and paper work on canvas, Laurel’s Wisteria, has been accepted by the 21st Annual International Juried Show of the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey, opening this month in Summit. New Hope Sidetracks is privileged to premiere the new print of this important work, completed in late January. Leah Tomaino is a graduate of The Cooper Union in New York City, with further study at The Studio Art School of the Aegean in Greece and at William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey. She is an adjunct professor at County College of Morris and an Art Instructor at Artworks Studio, both in her hometown of Randolph. Betty Jacobsen of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, lends an intimate air to the gathering with her small oils on board. Showing strong color contrast and imaginative detailing, these works glow from afar as if they were high-burnished tiles. A selection of dry-point etchings and monotypes complement these more recent oil panels. Art and nature, coupled with education, are her passions. Nature has long served as her personal metaphor for cycles of life lived and for relationships between and among people known. Her art has recently appeared at Stover Mill Gallery in Erwinna; the Hunterdon Museum of Art in Clinton, New Jersey; Trimbur-Henry Gallery of Doylestown; and The New York Law School in Manhattan. Betty has been an exhibiting artist for more than twenty years and at present teaches advanced-level art classes. Sidetracks will also have on view a winter selection of work by other gallery artists M.P. Landis, Jane Henry, Rachel Friedberg, Norma Holt, Paul Bowen, Irén Handschuh, New Hope’s own Jack Rosen, Selina Trieff, Yvonne Love and Marc Deasy. Marc, the husband of Betty Jacobsen, will complement the present exhibition with a suite of framed stonework tiles with floral motifs. New Hope Sidetracks Art Gallery is located in the New Hope Arts Center, 2A Stockton Avenue, at the intersection of Bridge Street and the New Hope-Ivyland Railroad, neighboring El Taco Loco Restaurant. Regular Gallery hours: Sunday, Monday & Thursday 11AM - 6PM, Friday & Saturday 11AM - 7PM. Closed Tuesday & Wednesday. Celebrating Second Saturdays in New Hope 11AM – 9PM 215-862-4586 www.nhsidetracks.com newhopesidetrackscomcast.net