Artist Kyra Wojcik of Wyandotte stands by her doll-inspired art Jan. 18 during the third annual Beach P-Art-Y at River’s Edge Gallery, 3024 Biddle in Wyandotte.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Sunday Times Newspapers
WYANDOTTE – Despite the cold temperatures outside, the atmosphere was warm and inviting inside River’s Edge Gallery, 3024 Biddle Ave., on Jan. 18 during its third annual Beach P-Art-y.
Gallery co-owner Patt Slack said she was pleased with the turnout, especially since the event ran the same time as a Detroit Lions game and had the threat of another winter storm looming.
“We still have a nice full house, so I’m very happy,” she said. “It’s a very light atmosphere, and we need that.”
Slack said she’s pleased with the new artists the gallery is exhibiting, and the evolving work of the artists who have been with the gallery for a while.
“They’re all taking a turn; what’s up with the world has made everybody change their attitude a bit,” she said. “They are deep feelers, so I have found that the artists are changing, and their artwork is changing.
“We see the change in the world through the eyes of our artists.”
Artist Jan Dale of Allen Park, who is new to River’s Edge, has her work on display.
She started devoting more time to her murals and other paintings when it became more financially rewarding than substitute teaching.
Artist Jan Dale, standing near her work, enjoys the Beach P-Art-Y theme Jan. 18 at River’s Edge Gallery, 3024 Biddle in Wyandotte.
“Opportunities started coming, things started to come together, and I’ve been a full-time painter since 2017,” Dale said.
She works in oil as her main media, but she does work with watercolors because they are “quick and fun.”
Dale said much of her work is inspired by Michigan farmland and her memories of growing up on a farm, as well as the birds she watched as a child.
“When I was a little girl growing up with 10 brothers and sisters, screens get torn and birds get in, and so, we were just always shooing birds out,” she said. “I began to notice that they were curious about us, and so the idea of birds interacting with human-made items, human touched items, always intrigued me.”
Artist Kyra Wojcik of Wyandotte said the colorful, free-standing dolls she has on display are an extension of her painting.
“They are art dolls because they are not meant to be played with –
they are to be looked at,” she said. “I started doing that 15, 20 years ago, and for every series that I do, they change a little bit.”
A doll with a butterfly ornament is based on a story about a Chinese philosopher who dreamt he was a butterfly, but when he woke up, he didn’t know if he was dreaming that he was a man and was actually a butterfly.
Another doll, entitled “I’m every woman” is constructed using a four-sided table leg, and each way it is turned, a photo of a visually different woman appears.
For more information about the work and artists represented at River’s Edge Gallery, go to ArtAtTheEdge.com.
Above and below, attendees enjoy the warm weather vibe Jan. 18 during the third annual Beach P-Art-Y at River’s Edge Gallery, 3024 Biddle in Wyandotte.
Above and below, attendees enjoy the warm weather vibe Jan. 18 during the third annual Beach P-Art-Y at River’s Edge Gallery, 3024 Biddle in Wyandotte.
Artist Jan Dale’s watercolor beach scenes are on display Jan. 18 during the third annual Beach P-Art-Y at River’s Edge Gallery, 3024 Biddle in Wyandotte.