Press-Republican

A&E

Related Photos

  • Staff Photo/Michael Betts

    images_sizedimage_115043041

  • Image Courtesy Mountain Lake PBS

    images_sizedimage_115043054

Related Links

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. Before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.

Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.

We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.

Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:

There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.

Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.

Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)

Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”

Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.

Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.

Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.

In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.

Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.

We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.
comments powered by Disqus
April 24, 2008

Got Mountain Lake PBS Arts Auction art?

Deck

By ROBIN CAUDELL

PLATTSBURGH -- Mountain Lake PBS has juried art waiting for the highest bid during the station's three-day live auction Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

New York, Vermont, Quebec and Ontario artists and collectors have donated 140 juried works. Proceeds from the 24th-annual auction benefit the station's local television productions and programming.

This year's collection, valued at more than $80,000, includes works created by Bill Crosby, Tex Dawson, Barbara Salonen Fox, Loretta Fassan and William Amadon that will be auctioned off by CAI-licensed auctioneer Ralph F. Passonno Jr.

FOUR SEASON INFLUENCE

This is the third year that Amadon, a featured artist, has participated in the fundraiser. He grew up in Piseco Lake in Hamilton County and lived there until 1999. There, the state-forest preserve comprised 90 percent of the town's acreage. Amadon was fascinated by the landscape around him.

In his artist statement, he writes:

"The wild lands and the small town provided me with lots of ideas. The four seasons gave me exciting reactions to their changes in angles and intensity of sunlight. The contrast of the warm and cold seasons were major interest in my art. I observed the differences in the moods created by daily and seasonal changes in weather conditions and read about meteorology, becoming the local expert at forecasting the weather."

Amadon holds a bachelor's degree in art from Plattsburgh State and pursued advanced studies at Munson-Williams Proctor in Utica and SUNY Albany. He is a photographer as well as a painter and slides between the two. He is also the president of the Adirondack Art Association.

FULL-MOON RISING

Amadon donated four works to the Arts Auction. "Jay Covered Bridge" is an acrylic that was based on an old photograph his father took in the 1960s.

"It was one of my first trips into the High Peaks area, and I was interested in covered bridges. My grandparents used to take me around to different covered bridges in central New York, Vermont and Massachusetts," said the artist, who lives in Essex.

In the foreground of the painting is a boy -- Amadon, himself, at about 12. He unearthed the tiny 126-format image several years ago and scanned it.

"There were a lot of things happening with the bridge. It seemed kind of significant. They were dismantling (it), and I didn't know if it would be there again."

He had fun with the painting.

"I was trying to remember that experience, what it was like to be in the northern mountains. It was late September, early October, kind of cool. Fall-like. The painting is a little more expressive, the colors are a little more bright and exaggerated than what I have been doing the last couple of years. The photograph is quite muted."

Another acrylic, "Moon Rise Over Plattsburgh," is based on another painting he did 25 years ago. On a bike ride in late June, early July, he became aware of the "event" of the color of the summer sky, vegetation, sunlight, cumulus clouds and full-moon rising.

"A little bit of Mount Mansfield shows in the painting. It was a different approach. It's a little freer. It doesn't have the details that some of my paintings have."

LIGHT, TEXTURE

"Water Lilies," an oil, is the result of another bike ride on the Route 8 Bridge. He looked down and ....

"Saw all the water lilies, a combination of the flowers and lily pads starring to go yellow. It was an interesting combination of light and textures."

The leaves were created with a palette knife.

"It creates a little bit different texture."

Almost a decade ago, Amadon moved to Essex. A five-mile bike ride from his home to Merrick's bakery in Wadhams produced the oil painting, "Merricks."

"They had planted some flowers out front."

Originally, he conceived he would produce a postcard from the image. He did sell a few photographs of it.

"I decided to do a painting of it. There happened to be a patron having a little snack and some coffee, probably. It was kind of an interesting little bit of the locality here."

By day, Amadon's business is Naturescape, where he does gardening and builds stone walls. On his farm, he tends to Highlander cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, guinea hens and a lama. His boyhood fascination with the landscape informs his art and forest-preserve activism.

ATMOSPHERIC ESSENCES

In his statement, Amadon writes:

"I am still fascinated by the light and color created by differences in atmospheric conditions which are the result of the earth's position in the solar system. I feel my work may become less focused on reality and more on the essences of these differences."

rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

ARTS AUCTION
PHONE: Express Bidder Numbers may be reserved by calling 563-9770, Ext. 127.
HIGHLIGHT: To encourage people to come into the station to bid, Mountain Lake has compiled an exclusive "In-Studio Collection" of works, available for bid only by those coming into the studio. The station will also offer a variety of food and beverages during the three themed evenings: Friday, "Red Carpet Soiree"; Saturday, "Mont Royal Night"; and Sunday, "Adirondack Evening."
WEB SITE: www.mountainlake.org (click on Arts Auction).

Text Only | Photo Reprints

Steve Ouellette's Movie Reviews

Parade
Magazine
Click HERE to read all your Parade favorites including Hollywood Wire, Celebrity interviews and photo galleries, Food recipes and cooking tips, Games and lots more.
Entertainment Videos
Latest Jason Wu Collection Shows Chinese Roots ShowBiz Minute: Madonna, Beresford-Redman, Pawsc Stars Show Support at AMFAR Charity Gala BCBG Kicks Off NY Fashion Week The Muppets Are Oscars Bound! ShowBiz Minute: House, Perry/Brand, Grammys Hearts Are Pumping for the Ladies in Red Androgynous Model Walks Runway As Man and Woman ShowBiz Minute: Super Bowl, Taylor, Adele Dench: 'I'm Not Going to Retire.' No 'Safe House' With Ryan Reynolds Around Stars Come Out at the Oscars Luncheon David Guetta, Avicii Talk Grammy Nominations Rapper J. Cole Is Ready for the Grammys Chris Brown, More R&B Performers Look to Rapping ShowBiz Minute: Chris Brown, Jay-Z, Oscar Lunche Love in the Air at 'The Vow' Premiere Daniel Radcliffe Haunted by the 'Woman in Black' ShowBiz Minute: M.I.A., Washington, Box Office Video of M.I.A's Obscene Halftime Gesture