“Thresholds” a collaborative show of watercolors by Chuck Bohn and handblown glass by Chet Cole will open August 28th and run through October 3rd. Saturday, September 6th from 3-5, a wine and cheese artists’ reception is open to the general public in the Guild’s Backroom Gallery on 430 Railroad Street in St. Johnsbury.
A perfect compliment to Bohn’s paintings is Marshield glass artisan, Chet Cole’s handblown glass pieces. He combines the old and the new as well-- “My glass work in this show represents our Vermont setting with functional and practical designs. These designs incorporate early glass making techniques with a twist to the contemporary sense of the beauty of the sculptural multilayered transparencies of glass.”
Cole is well know for his richly colored pressed glass designs which he and his artist wif,e Viiu Niiler, create in their Marshfiield studio, Country Glass. Like most artists his work has evolved through exploration of various mediums. ” My interest in found iron objects and recycled glass has led me through a parallel career in creating blown and pressed glass and sometimes integrating iron work into the pieces,” says Chet.
Chuck Bohn retired from teaching art in 1996 and paints now in transparent watercolors and oils for his own pleasure and for the “challenges” that his craft provides. Writes Bohn, “I like to think my painting will appeal to various levels of reception that range from the very literal to the more subjective interpretations….. I hope too that my paintings have enough of an edge to avoid merely becoming clichés or sentimental images.”
