Karen Lentz, proprietor of M&H Custom Framing and Gallery in Warminster, considers art “a gift to its audience through the process of its creation by the artist.”
Indeed, Lentz’s gallery has displayed such gifts as created by a number of virtuosos, including Patrick Walsh, Joanne Turner, Michael Kuyper and Kelly Lutz, four artists to be featured in a very special show coming in September.
“What drives each of these artists to have their vision and be able to share it through their chosen medium is vital to the life of their art,” Lentz says. “These four artists remain true to themselves and have skillful communication through their individual styles.”
Patrick Walsh
Walsh moved to Bucks County around the age of 12 and, since then, has become one of the area’s most notable painters. After returning from his time serving as a sailor in Vietnam, Walsh took classes at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, as well as Bucks County Community College in Newtown. In both institutions Walsh learned the fundamentals and was able to form his own style by tweaking the “golden section”.
Walsh’s view as an artist has been informed by life lessons both as a painter and observer from all those people and things he has experienced along his journey. He is first and foremost an American painter. The European masters, and other art movements, have been important to him. “Of course art is, after all, history and I love art history and have studied it extensively,” he says. “My studies have always brought me back to American art; it’s only natural for me because I love my country. My wish, made long ago, is to have one of my paintings in the collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art.” How appropriate.
Joanne Turner
Turner has been working with pastels for nearly a decade but says she still learns new things every day. Originally from the Pittsburgh area, Turner now lives in Lansdale, where she enjoys working with pastels because they produce vibrant colors and are a “tactile” medium.
“There is a sense of being able to manipulate the pigment instantly,” she says. “Pastel grabs the mood.”
Of creating works of art, Turner says, “It’s difficult and it’s very exhausting, but it allows me to relax [and] forget about life.”
“It’s a very solitary experience, being there with your paper and pastels and doing what you do, and maybe you like it but when someone else likes it, it just knocks your socks off,” Turner says. “It’s gratifying in that people enjoy what you do and appreciate your endeavors.”
Michael Kuyper
Kuyper of Warminster is perhaps best known for his sports paintings, notably “Phinally!,” which captures the spirit of the Phillies’ World Series victory in 2008. Yet, Kuyper’s repertoire is far more expansive than sports-centered art. A graduate of Philadelphia’s Hussian School of Art, Kuyper is also well versed in fine art and has been successful in the realm of decorative painting (walls, ceilings, furniture, etc.).
“I want to catch the viewer’s eye quickly,” says Kuyper, who also has great talent with trompe l'oeil, a hyper-realistic style of painting meant to portray depth and dimension. Kuyper’s ability to paint from postage-stamp-size art to mural-size art loses nothing in his interpretation. He is meticulous in his detail through a painterly brushstroke. “What I capture in my local landscapes is an Old World style of painting,” he says. “I admire the Dutch masters and it appeals to me to bring that mood to my landscapes.”
Kelly Lutz
Bucks County native Lutz has been in love with photography for as long as she can remember.
“I would stay after school just so I could get extra time in the dark room; I loved it,” she says. Lutz has always been someone who has been involved in all things creative. This is apparent in her photography work. She is inspired by observing the world around her. During interviews with clients she is able to glean insight into what makes them tick and uses that information to tell their story. “I capture those stories/moments so they can have a visual record of every emotion, color, texture, sound and person involved in creating it,” she says. “I use my camera to give moments a voice, a visual voice.”
Telling her clients to be themselves and to just have fun is crucial for those moments to occur. Uniqueness comes to her by the way she sees things. “I shoot at different angles, I shoot through things, and I eliminate certain things out of the image because sometimes what you can’t see is what really makes the image strong,” she says. “I think outside the box.” The message of Lutz’s work is this: When one holds the photograph in hand, they will relive the moment—the joyousness of weddings, births and family sessions, or the strength, courage and sheer determination of the client keeping a photo journal while battling cancer. “Everyone’s story is personal and should be documented in a way that reflects that,” she says.
The upcoming show, “Perspectives,” opens on Friday September 19 at 6:30 p.m. There are three ways to learn more about these artists and the show: “Like” M&H Framing on Facebook; visit M&H’s website and follow M&H on Instagram @ mhcustomframing #mhperspectives.
M&H Custom Framing and Gallery
373 York Road
Warminster PA 18974
215-443-0968
mhframing@gmail.com
www.mhcustomframing.com
