“It’s pure Pennsylvania” | Works inspired by the beauty of the region on display at the Westmont Arts Center

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – Pennsylvania’s love of natural beauty is captured in this double display case.

“Embracing Pennsylvania,” an exhibition of outdoor landscapes and turned wooden bowls by Sarah Gayle Silwones and Jonathan Silwones, is on display through July 26 at the Goldhaber-Fend Fine Arts Center Gallery at the Community Arts Center of Cambria County, 1217 Menoher Blvd. ., Westmont.

The Ferndale couple moved to the area two years ago from the Pacific Northwest purely for the aesthetics of the area.

“We really fell in love with Pennsylvania and the scenery was one of the things that drew us here. We discovered the magic of the place and it’s incredible,” said Sarah Gayle Silwones. “As we discover Pennsylvania and the beauty of what is here, it has inspired my art through its visual aspect. Jonathan discovered that the hardwoods here are such a prolific resource that his woodturning took an astonishing path.

She said exhibiting at the arts center is an opportunity to show the connection between art forms.

“If I were to do an outdoor art exhibit, it would be such a natural thing to want to have his bowls, because they seem to be connected, and that’s because they come from the same place,” Sarah said Gayle Silwones. . “It’s pure Pennsylvania.”

This is the first time that the couple has exhibited together.

“We both had galleries in the past and it had been a long time since we had our work exhibited, so it was fun to get it all out and start reminiscing about everything we did,” Jonathan said Silwones.

The exhibition features 64 paintings by Sarah Gayle Silwones, the majority of which are works of outdoor landscapes, animals and seasonal scenes.

“As a plein air artist, I pack everything in a suitcase, hike somewhere, set up my easel and paint the scene,” she said. “You have a very short amount of time to do it, so most pieces are done in about two hours. Your effort is to try to capture the light and mood of the moment you are in, as opposed to a more accomplished work that takes place in the studio.

She said the outdoor works on display were painted primarily in Cambria County.

“I usually go to places and paint for the day, or when possible, I find places where I can go for a week or more and really work in one place,” she said.

She has said that color and light are what inspire her work.

“Color is my thing and I love what it does with light,” she said. “It’s so amazing. The outdoors gives you the opportunity to see things differently. The light you see, whether in a photo or inside a room, is very dim. Outdoor light creates all sorts of nuances that you can’t capture with a camera, so the only way to capture it is to stand in front of it and really study the place you are and look for those little things magical.

Jonathan Silwones said he has been turning wood for many years and specializes in bowls and bowl shapes.

“I do a process called twice-turned bowls, so you rough the wood into shape and you look at what you have and what it could be.

“It’s very thick and it dries sometimes for up to a year in this form,” he said. “This allows it to really stabilize the humidity and temperature.

“I’m going to put it back in the lathe to finish the pieces so they don’t warp.”

The exhibition features 55 pieces including functional bowls, plates, trays and closed forms.

“The predominant wood species are cherry, oak, walnut, black walnut, black locust and catalpa,” Jonathan Silwones said. “In the Pacific Northwest, hardwoods are hard to find and you really have to work to get good wood, but here it’s everywhere, and it’s amazing.”

He said the ideas for the pieces came to him as he worked with the wood.

“It’s about form, what would look good and how it’s used,” Jonathan Silwones said. “It’s about what you can do to orient the piece best based on the grain and what you can do to give it a nice curve.”

Sarah Gayle Silwones said viewers will see Pennsylvania differently.

“When you live in a place, it’s easy to overlook the beauty of it,” she said. “That lilac in someone’s garden is actually beautiful on its own from a different perspective, or that pile of firewood could make these incredibly beautiful bowls. We want people to see the resources that exist here, but in a different light.

Angela R. Godin, executive director of the arts center, said the show offers diversity.

“With Sarah Gayle, you go from still life to her outdoor pieces with her outdoor details and Pennsylvania moments, and then you get the real tactile feel of Jonathan’s work as it’s hands-on to make the pieces,” a- she declared. “It’s kind of a cool marriage between the fact that you have a variety of paints and you have these turned hardwood pieces.”

Godin said those who attend the show will see the time spent on the work.

“Each part of these supports is extremely time consuming and not instantaneous,” she said. “You have to focus, go back and make sure you catch the light because it changes. With wood, going with or against the grain can give two different results.

“Being able to see the subtleties and the time is a really beautiful thing and not just the appeal of the pieces themselves.”

A video tour of the artwork is available on the arts center’s YouTube and Facebook pages.

There is no admission fee.

Gallery opening hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday.

For more information, call 814-255-6515 or visit www.caccc.org.