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From Firnew Founder and Director Trish Crowe, “On Sunday, May 7, 2023 the Firnew Farm Artists’ Circle celebrated its 20th Anniversary with a Group Art Exhibition and Sale in the Firnew Barn Gallery with 90 pieces of original art from 32 artists.
For twenty years Firnew artists kept the SPIRIT alive as they continued to EVOLVE. The exhibition was a testament to their creativity, curiosity and artistic exploration throughout the years. During the pandemic, the artists held together to paint, draw, and photograph outdoors. What set them apart was the diversity of styles they work in: painting in Watercolor, Oil and Acrylic or using drip, brush or palette knife to execute their expressions; and, photographers shooting in film, digital or wetplate, or fiber artists, potters or jewelers who create masterful pieces that enchant and delight.
The singular element that united them was their “being present at the scene!” Perhaps, secondly, was a return to the foundation of their artforms. Trish Crowe ground pigments to create watercolors, John Berry started in film, then moved to digital, and became firmly ensconced in wetplate. He created an 11 x 14 wetplate, the lens came from Germany, the silver tank from Maine, and using fellow artist, Barb Wallace’s 100 year old glass from a greenhouse in England he created his final images.
John Berry quoted Freeman Vines, “I prefer to do it by hand for one simple reason. It takes all of the glory out of what you’re doing when you’re using a lot of modern tools.”
Firnew’s creativity, community, collaboration and compassion have seen numerous artists through its door, garnered many awards for their artwork, spear-headed scholarship awards and judged Greene County and Madison County school Art Shows. A five year collaboration with the Virginia Master Naturalists and the University of Virginia’s Poison Control Center fueled two exhibitions: “The Socrates Project” in 2019 followed by “The Cleopatra Project” in 2022.”
You are invited to view the EVOLVE Art and Artist Catalog at EVOLVE Art & Artists Catalog
John Berry’s video from the 2018 Spring Show, “Firnew at 15”.