THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 30, 1995 TAG: 9504280236
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY REBECCA A. MYERS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
CARVINGS IN alabaster. Watercolors of the Chesapeake Bay. Raku pottery.
Unique gifts by three Portsmouth artists who will display and sell their work at the 24th annual Ghent Art Show to be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 13-14 in Norfolk's Town Point Park.
Swimming Point resident Sue Landerman, a sculptor known for her chiseled creations in stone and brick, will carve small pieces of alabaster while you wait.
``I carve whatever I see in the piece, mainly flowers, but if a fish jumps out, I'll just do it,'' said Landerman, who will sell the pieces for about $45 each.
Landerman, who recently returned from a six-week stint in Italy carving marble for a gallery exhibit in Genoa, also will display about 50 other works.
``I'm going to be talking to people who are looking at my stone sculptures because I've become so attached to the pieces that they all seem to develop a story for me,'' she said. ``And I love sharing that with people. It really brings the piece alive.''
Landerman also will display and sell 12- by 12-inch sculptured wall plaques, ``something unique for the patio that you don't get from a mold.''
``Each piece is an original piece of art,'' said Landerman. ``Nothing is duplicated exactly. It's nice when you have something unique like that as opposed to mass-produced hundreds from a mold.''
One of Landerman's brick creations, a floral-sculpted fountain with water spilling off the lip into a little pond, will be used in a garden display at the entrance to the show.
The column, 8-feet tall and 23 inches in diameter, is an exhibit piece that's been on tour since Landerman built it three years ago. It contains about 320 bricks and sells for $5,000.
Another Olde Towne artist, Darrell Craig, will display about 30 of his finest works: figurative drawings, watercolors and stilllife paintings.
Craig, an adjunct instructor who teaches drawing at the new TCC Visual Arts Center, also plans to exhibit his work in the Stockley Gardens and the Seawall art shows.
``It's like a circuit,'' he said of the springtime art festivals.
Craig's pieces range in price from $125 to $450.
Wayne Potrafka, a raku potter and sculptor with an art gallery at Tower Mall, will display about 150 pieces of jewelry and 50 original works at the show.
``This is my first time with the Ghent Art Show,'' said Potrafka of Cedar Point. ``I'd taken an eight-year break from doing my art work and just came back full time last spring.''
Potrafka's pottery is both wheel-thrown and hand-formed. His raku pottery, fired differently from normal pottery, is known for its ``copper-flash metallic look.''
To get this effect, the pieces are pulled out of the kiln at 1,800 degrees while the glaze is molten. The pottery is then placed in a container with a lid that holds pine needles, newspaper and wood shavings. The pieces are removed at 1,400 degrees and are immediately plunged into cold water.
``Those that survive get to go to the shows or come to my gallery,'' said Potrafka. ``There's a lot of breakage involved, but it's the only way to get the impact.''
Potrafka also does a full line of wall sculptures. His artwork ranges in price from $7.50 to $100.
The Ghent Art Show moved from Stockley Gardens to Town Point Park in 1983. More than 200 artists will participate in this year's show, which is expected to draw a crowd of nearly 50,000.
Proceeds from the event benefit the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia. The goal is to raise $30,000 from space and application fees as well as vendors' fees.
In addition, Sprint Cellular will provide free calls to mothers on Mother's Day, May 14, and a children's area with continuous entertainment and activities like sand art, face painting and puppets will be provided. MEMO: Call Millie Johnson, coordinator of the show, at 446-2250 for
information or call Infoline at 640-5555 and punch in SHOW (7469).
ILLUSTRATION: Sue Landerman's sculpture will be on display at the Ghent Art
Show.
by CNB