Josephy Center Presents: "Sweethearts; a Couples Art Show"

The Josephy Center presents a unique exhibit featuring the work of local artists this February that also happen to be couples. The exhibit is titled Sweethearts: A Couples Art Show. Featured artists include ceramists Jim and Anne Shelly, collage artist Cheri McGee and sculptor Roger McGee, painters Susan and Sam Collett, photographer Marky Pitts and sculptor Ed Pitts, and painters/artists and owners of Aspen Grove Gallery Mark Kortnik and Carol McLaughlin Kortnik.
 
The show kicks off on Friday, February 7 at 7 p.m. at the Josephy Center with light food, drink and music and will run until February 25.  Curator Susan Collett came up with the idea of local couples showing together at an art show. “I realized a lot of my friends were not just talented local artists but many of them happened to be couples together making a living at their artistry,” she said. “It just seemed like the perfect time to bring the show to the Center and Valentines Day just magically appeared as our time.”
 
Artists will display and offer for sale work in a variety of mediums. Anne and Jim Shelly’s “Fire Works Pottery” features stoneware and raku designs found in the beauty of everyday-ware along with sculpture and wall art.  As a couple they collaborate on functional work. Anne designs and forms pieces in white stoneware, which Jim then refines, glazes and fires to 2350 degrees, a temperature at which glazes become richly colored and durable.  The Shellys’ designs reflect their delight in the natural world, marrying whimsical organic forms to conventional functions – teapots that pour well, cups that fit the hand. The Shellys’ wares sell throughout the West, including Joseph’s ToZion.