WARREN COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
  • Plan A Visit
    • Harmon Museum >
      • Special Exhibits
      • Armstrong Gallery of Flight
      • Gift Shop
      • Research Library
    • Glendower Historic Mansion
    • Beedle Log Cabin
  • Events
    • Antique Show
    • Art Exhibitions
    • Cemetery Tours
    • Contests >
      • The Blue Hole Art Contest
      • Student Art Competition
    • Flea Market
    • Garden Tour
    • Lunch & Learn - Online
    • Music at the Museum
    • Teas >
      • High Teas
  • Get Involved
    • Become A Member
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
  • Facility Rental
    • Armstrong Conference Center
    • Lawn at Glendower Mansion
    • Harmon Museum
  • Education
    • Schools Tours
    • History Camp
  • Blog
  • About
    • About Us
    • History of Our Properties
    • William Elmer Harmon
    • Partner Organizations
    • Board and Staff
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us

We've got History on our minds...

Meet the Artist: Marshall Miller

7/25/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
A message from the artist:

​"Every image tells a story...

Storytelling is a big part of what I bring to each photograph taken.  I am interested in capturing the mood, tone and feeling that express subject matter in its greatest light.  I have the patience it takes, and planning required to capture my imagery at just the right time to captivate the beholder.  These tactics were shared with me by my father who gave me my first camera, a shiny new Kodak "Hawkeye".  
​
At Ohio University I studied Photography and was also privileged to meet my lovely wife Joy who was an Interior Design major.  My photographic education also included portraits with models both indoors and outside.  Throughout each shoot, I impart the importance of storytelling by applying empathy through the lens of my camera.  Today, I find myself enjoying capturing the majesty of waterfalls and calm bold decoration of the American southwest.  I hope you enjoy these lovely images and that they take you to a delightful place.
 
I hope you enjoy my photography and decide to purchase one for your home, office, a friend. 

Sincerely,

Marshall N. Miller"

Marshall's exhibition begins August 7 and will run through August 29.



0 Comments

Meet the Artist: Lynda Sappington

6/26/2020

0 Comments

 
Primarily a self-taught artist (her college degree is in music), Lynda has taken equine sculpture workshops from Gwen Reardon, Kathleen Freidenberg and Karen Kasper, all at the Kentucky Horse Park; an AAEA workshop with Morgen Kilbourne in Aiken SC; a stone sculpture workshop from Annie Pasikov in Colorado; a figurative workshop from Philippe Farault at Philippe's classroom in Honeyoye, NY; a figurative sculpture workshop from Tuck Langland at the Scottsdale Artists School; and a painting workshop from Elin Pendleton at the Kentucky Horse Park. Lynda has also taken workshops or classes in mold-making, resin casting, patinas and drawing to improve her skills.

Lynda Sappington's work is internationally collected, and has been in galleries from California to Ohio to Florida to Wisconsin. Her sculptures are also in use as trophies all over the USA and in Canada, both as championship trophies and year-end awards. Three of her bronzes are at the Kentucky Horse Park: "Elegance" as a perpetual trophy in the Friesian Horse of North America (FHANA) headquarters, "Frolic" as a perpetual trophy in the US Dressage Federation (USDF) headquarters, and "Harmony" in the USDF Hall of Fame.

Lynda is not only an award-winning sculptor and photographer, but a writer, as well. The first edition of her book, "Sculpting 101: A Primer for the Self-taught Artist" sold out. The second edition, which has been completely revised and had two chapters added to it, is available through this website as well as Amazon.com and other outlets.  In 2014-17, she co-wrote "Best Horse Care Practices" with her daughter, Grand Prix rider and trainer Jennifer Truett, who is also the owner and head trainer at Dancing Horse Farm, Lebanon OH.  This book was published by Xenophon Press in 2018.

Of Lynda's many awards is the Joel Meisner Company Foundry Award from the American Academy of Equine Art. Her bronze, "Ecstasy" won Best in Show 3-D at the Black Stallion Show.

In 2011, Lynda created a life-size sculpture of the Friesian stallion, Nanning 374.  It was installed at Nanning's owner's farm in Wisconsin April 19, 2012.  A second casting of this piece was installed on a private farm in Ohio in 2013.
Lynda has written articles for numerous publications, including Equine Images, Horses in Art and The Equine Art Guild's newsletter, "The Palette." From 1998-2002, Lynda was Editor-in-Chief of ARTVoices, an online art magazine that was part of the ARTFaces | ARTPlaces gallery, as well as an AFAP Vice President and Board member. She contributed many articles to ARTVoices, including a regular column on sculpting called "Sculpturally Speaking."

​An article in the "Bits and Pieces" section of the June/July 1998 issue of 
The Equine Image magazine featured her sculpture "Presence" and the Mid-Ohio Dressage Association trophy made from that edition. In 2008, Lynda was interviewed as one of several featured artists who make trophies (including the artists who make the Oscars, the Emmys and the Country Music Awards) in A&E Magazine.

Lynda's sculptures were featured on the cover of "The Chronicle of the Horse" magazine seven times. She's been interviewed for a show on RFD-TV and for several other magazines and newspapers. Her work has appeared in "Southwest Art" magazine, the Ascot Race Program in 2013, "Art in America" and many other magazines as well as some coffee table books.  

In 1999, #3 of the "Presence" edition became a special award at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby, Palm Beach, Florida. Number 2 of "Presence" edition is the Stallion Perpetual Trophy at the Mid-Ohio Dressage Association Classic, Delaware, Ohio. "Harmony" #2/18 became the Grand Prix Special trophy at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby, starting in 2002. Another of Lynda's trophies is the Concourse d'Elegance World Championship Driving Trophy, using #2 of the "Elegance" edition, for the Friesian Horse Association of North America, which was awarded for the first time in October 2007. She has also created trophies and/or year-end awards for the New York Thoroughbred Breeders Association, Great Lakes Downs, the American Warmblood Society and other race tracks, breed and horse show organizations.

- from thesculptedhorse.com's bio for Linda Sappington.
0 Comments

Artist Spotlight: Kevin Harris

10/25/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
​Kevin Harris teaches at Sinclair Community College where he has led courses in Drawing, Printmaking and Digital Media since the year 2000. Prior to coming to Sinclair, Kevin held teaching appointments at the University of Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky University, the Art Academy of Cincinnati, The University of the Arts, Moore College of Art and Design and Lincoln University.
 
Kevin earned a BA from Hampton University and an MFA from the University of Cincinnati. He has also studied at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia and frequently attends printmaking workshops at Making Art Safely in New Mexico. His work is included in the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum as well as in many corporate and private collections. He has recently been featured in solo exhibitions at the Dana L. Wiley Gallery, Dayton, OH and at the African American Visual Arts Guild (AAVAG) Gallery at Central State University-West and at Sinclair’s Triangle Gallery where he presented, MULTIPLY, an exhibition of four thematically intertwined bodies of work: MULTIPLY, Angels Tread, Dream Sequence and Urban Wordfare plus The Sticker Snatcher Books.

0 Comments

Artist Spotlight: Martin Rettig

9/13/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Predominantly a floral painter, Martin Rettig was the younger brother of John Rettig. Born in 1869, Martin studied under Duveneck at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and would later become known as an authority on the works of Duveneck. He was one of the first decorators at Rookwood Pottery, where he stayed from 1882 through 1885. He worked primarily in Limoges, France, in the Japanese style typical of Rookwood at the time. Martin was the president of the Cincinnati Art Club from 1918 through 1920 and passed away in 1956, leaving a large body of floral oil paintings as his legacy.

0 Comments

Artist Spotlight: John Rettig

9/13/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Dubbed as the “Wizard of Scenic Creation”, John Rettig was best known for his set designs, creating many open-air pageants in Cincinnati, North Africa, and Mexico. The son of a German beer brewer, John was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. He took an interest in art at an early age, beginning to paint frescos when he was just fifteen. He studied at the McMicken School of Drawing and Design (a division of the University of Cincinnati) and graduated in 1881. He later studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati under Frank Duveneck and Henry Potthast before traveling to Europe to study in Paris with Collin and Courtois. As an artist, he was a painter, sculptor, muralist, and theatrical set designer. With his younger brother and fellow artist, Martin, he decorated and modeled Rookwood Pottery.  In 1903, he traveled back to Europe and spent most of his time in Northern Holland, in a fishing village named Volendam, which later became his second home. John was the president of the Cincinnati Art Club from 1890 to 1892 and again from 1908 to 1910. He passed away, in Cincinnati, at the age of 75. His paintings are on display in private and public collections around the world.

0 Comments

Artist Spotlight: C. F. Payne

7/11/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
C.F. Payne is an artist-illustrator whose artwork has graced the covers of Time Magazine, Readers Digest, Sports Illustrated, The New York Times Book Review and Sunday Magazine, MAD Magazine, der Spiegel, U.S. News and World Report, The Atlantic Monthly, Texas Monthly, Boys Life and more. He has been commissioned to paint countless politicians, authors and entertainers. He has illustrated ten children’s picture books, including The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Micawber, written by John Lithgow.
His artwork has been exhibited at The Cincinnati Art Museum, The National Portrait Gallery, The Norman Rockwell Museum, The Society of Illustrators Museum of American Illustration, The Selby Gallery at Ringling College of Art and Design and numerous college and university galleries.

0 Comments

Artist Spotlight: Nick Reynolds

3/2/2019

 
​"Nick Reynolds is a Lebanon-born artist and certified Bob Ross instructor. He started oil-painting his senior year of high school and three years later, received his certification to teach in the Bob Ross method. Beyond simply teaching students to paint, he hopes to convince those around him to see talent as nothing more than a set of simple skills, attained through practice." - taken from Nick's website.
Nick will be teaching art classes on March 16th.
View more of Nick's work in his gallery.

Artist Spotlight: Peggy Hamlin

1/15/2019

 
  Almost 20 years ago, Peggy Hamlin took a pottery class with her 14 year old daughter at the local YMCA. "From the moment I put my fingers into the clay…" she said, an echo of nostalgia in her tone, "I knew I didn't ever want to stop." When asked why she favored sculpting and hand building, she explained, in true mom fashion, "the classroom only had three wheels and I wanted to make sure my daughter got one." As to why she favors animals as the subject of her work? "I enjoy the challenge but more, I just love animals. I love everything about them." If she wasn't creating pottery, Peggy says that you'd probably find her working as a veterinarian or Vet Tech. "Anywhere with animals really."  
   Come meet the animal-loving artist herself when Peggy joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)
Connect with Peggy on her Facebook page and check out what she has for sale on her Etsy shop.

Artist Spotlight: Karan Witham-Walsh

1/10/2019

 
   "As a potter and ceramics teacher, I love being able to spread my love of handmade pottery to others.   The act of a potter expressing themselves and creatively giving a part of their personality while bringing the depth of their experiences in clay to life within a beautiful pot is why I make pottery.    I like to make pottery because of the human connection which is formed, when one person appreciates the gifts, talents, and expressions of another and brings a handmade piece into their lives and homes.  In a world where we are constantly bombarded with technology and the newest manufactured things, the idea of slowing down to appreciate the handmade and keeping the traditions of handmade alive reminds us of our shared history and humanity."
Meet the artist herself when Karan joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)
Shop some of Karan's work on her Etsy store page or let her teach you some basics of throwing on her YouTube Channel.

Artist Spotlight: Mike Baum

1/9/2019

 
​Mike and his wife Karen are a husband and wife team who have been creating pottery together for over 40 years. Working in the space between utilitarian and fine art, their pottery that is not only beautiful but functional. They mix their own glazes and fire the pots in a fiber gas kiln of their own design. "We believe that people who have beautiful artwork in their homes also like to use beautiful handmade pots at their table."
Learn more about this creative couple at their website and check out this interview the Arts Council of Lebanon did with Mike. Come talk functional art when Mike and Karen join the seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)

Artist Spotlight: Greg Neal

1/6/2019

 
    "Greg Neal is a self-taught potter, born and raised in Lebanon, Ohio. His interest began with making pottery in high school, and he continued on as a hobby potter for several years. Greg became a full time artist over 25 years ago, marketing his work primarily at juried art shows in the Midwest and southern states. Greg's wife Amy joined Neal Pottery in 2006 and assists Greg both in the studio and at art shows.   The focus of Greg’s work has been on functional stoneware, with an additional line of unique high fire art pieces. The ability to create both styles of pottery fulfills his desire for exploring various techniques in throwing, glazing and firing. All pieces are wheel thrown or hand constructed, with custom glazes mixed in our studio. The designs of Neal Pottery are original and remain loyal to the idea that pottery should be purposeful as well as objects to be admired."
-taken from Greg's website.
Come meet the artist himself when Greg joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)
See what Greg has for sale in his Etsy shop.

Artist Spotlight: Fred Cook

1/5/2019

 
An exerpt taken from the "about me" page of his website.
"...High school art class was my first formal introduction to clay work. We were handbuilding, pinchpots and slabs.  I was falling in love with it. In the industrial arts room next door there was a kickwheel underneath a sheet of plywood which was being used as a table.  I asked about it and the art teacher said he didn’t know anything about how to use it.  So he asked around.  He convinced the shop teacher to uncover it and he found (out) the spouse of (another) teacher had taken ceramics in college.  She agreed to meet with me on a Saturday morning and introduce me to the wheel.  It was an incredible moment.  There is much I do not remember from those days, but that morning, I remember every detail."
Learn more about Fred on his website and meet the artist when he joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)

Artist Spotlight: Greg Shooner

1/4/2019

 
​      "Continuing the traditions of American potters dating to 1630, Greg Shooner and Mary Spellmire-Shooner re-create authentic redware pottery at their Oregonia, Ohio studio.  Greg and Mary use their years of pottery experience to make a ware that is unrivaled in its interpretation of rare antiques.  They work alone, with a passionate commitment to quality and artistic control.  A lifelong interest in art led them separately to pottery , then together to the study of redware.
          Redware is an earthenware pottery utilizing a red to pinkish burning clay body and was among the very first commercial products to be manufactured and used by European settlers to North America.  Its fragile nature and its lead glaze rendered it obsolete as soon as an economically feasible alternative (salt-glazed stoneware, tin or glass) was available.
          There has been a resurgence of appreciation for the warmth and beauty of this forgotten folk art in the past forty years and the Shooners enjoy a unique space in this renaissance.  Sharing their knowledge and enthusiasm, they have lectured and demonstrated often, including the "American Ceramics Conference" at the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, the “Dishcamp” conference at Eastfield Village in East Nassau, New York as well as William and Mary College and  New York University. The Shooners also share the unique beauty of their work, their pieces are represented in museum collections as far away as Stoke-on Trent in England to the permanent  collection of the White House in Washington D.C. and Camp David.
          This ware is truly a labor of love, and is recognized as the finest in its field,  coveted by period enthusiasts from coast to coast."
Come meet the artist himself when Greg joins seven other Warren County Potters for the art exhibition, Masters of Ceramics. The show opens with a FREE reception January 18th 6:30-8:30pm. Can't make it? The artists may be gone but the exhibition will remain through February 22nd, open to the public, at Harmon Museum, during normal business hours. (note: admission is charged for entry into the museum)

Artist Spotlight: Kelly Joslin

11/2/2018

0 Comments

 
Dr. Kelly Joslin is a tenured Professor and Chair of the Art Department at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio. Kelly began teaching Art History and Art Appreciation courses at Sinclair in 1998. She became Chair of the Art Department in 2005.
Kelly holds an Associate of Arts degree (A.A.) in Liberal Arts with an Art History emphasis from Sinclair Community College; a Bachelor of Arts degree (B.A.) in Humanities - World Classics from Antioch University-McGregor, a Master of Humanities Degree (M.Hum.) in Art History & Philosophy from Wright State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership - Higher Education Administration from the University of Dayton.

Kelly is an award-winning photographic artist who actively exhibits her artwork in regional, national, and international juried exhibitions. Her work focuses on experiments with Non-Silver/Alternative photographic processes - Cyanotype, Van Dyke Brown, Gum Print, and Palladium. These experiments have allowed her to create photographs that appear more expressive and painterly. In addition to traditional silver-based photography, she also works experimentally with digital photographic images.


Harmon Museum is proud to present Divine Introspection, the photography of Kelly Joslin.
Opening reception: Nov 2nd 6:30-8:30
Exibition Dates: Nov. 2nd - Dec. 15th


Artist’s StatementNature, and my relationship to it, has long served as a guiding force in my work. From tiny details to sweeping vistas, I continue to be enthralled by its mysteries and I seek to reveal its expressive qualities in my photographs. My photographic prints openly explore self-portraiture as a means of documenting the temporal aspects of physicality. This interest began after my rediscovery of 35mm negatives featuring self-portraits I created when I was 21 years old. As I examined the various images of my younger self, I became increasingly intrigued by the idea of juxtaposing those images with portraits of myself as I appeared 20 years later at age 41. Since that time, this exploration has continued to evolve. The resultant imagery serves as a seamless conduit between complex abstract compositions and straightforward images that provide an unaltered portrait at a given moment in time.
0 Comments

Artist Spotlight: Charley Harper

8/31/2018

0 Comments

 
The Warren County Historical Society is delighted to open The Magical World of Charley Harper, an art exhibition held at Harmon Museum. A free opening reception will be held on September 7th from 6:30-8:30pm and the exhibition will remain up until the 20th of October, viewable during the museum's normal business hours.

Charles Burton Harper was born in 1922 on a farm in central West Virginia. From an early age, he preferred sketching nature to doing his chores. Seeking a broad art education, Charley came to the Art Academy of Cincinnati for the fall term of 1940. There, on the first day of class, he met Edie McKee, graduate of Cincinnati's Wyoming High School. But Charley was drafted in 1942 to fight in World War II against Germany. A recon scout for the Army, he illustrated what he saw. At the war's end, he returned to America and spent a year at the Art Students League in New York. He then finished his degree at the Art Academy of Cincinnati and married Edie. It was then that the newlyweds embarked on a six-month honeymoon, painting their way across the United States and back.
Although Charley debated whether to be a realist or an abstract artist, he wished to discover his own creative voice. That process was completed by 1955 when he printed a series of birds that had appeared in Ford Times magazine.
The evolution of Charley's style can be seen in his images of the Northern Cardinal selected for this exhibit. Charley returned to the Cardinal many times in his career because its body allowed him to demonstrate his self-dubbed "minimal realism." As Charley liked to say, he stripped away all extraneous details, and "counted the wings, not the feathers." In subsequent Cardinal images, Charley portrayed the popular backyard bird from different perspectives. In later years, he incorporated the Cardinal within entire ecosystems in his most complex designs.
After 50 years working in his studio in a forest in the Cincinnati suburb of Finneytown, Charley had produced thousands of images. He had also written and illustrated books, illustrated children's books for Golden Press, created public tile murals, seen his art adapted by world renowned designers for clothing, stationery and dishware, and enjoyed an international reputation for his unique approach to the world.  It was Charley Harper's magical world. Since his passing in 2007, that world has continued to bring smiles to ever more faces.
0 Comments

    Author

    Staff and volunteers of WCHS

    Categories

    All
    American History
    Art
    Bingo
    Call To Action
    Civil Rights
    Events
    Exhibits
    Harmon Museum
    Holiday
    International History
    In The News
    Inventions
    Local History
    Lunch & Learn Topics
    Meet The Artist
    Meet The Speaker
    Military History
    Natural History
    Oral History

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    October 2017

    RSS Feed

office Hours

T-F: 9am - 4pm
Sat: 10am - 5pm

Telephone

513-932-1817

Connect with us!

  • Plan A Visit
    • Harmon Museum >
      • Special Exhibits
      • Armstrong Gallery of Flight
      • Gift Shop
      • Research Library
    • Glendower Historic Mansion
    • Beedle Log Cabin
  • Events
    • Antique Show
    • Art Exhibitions
    • Cemetery Tours
    • Contests >
      • The Blue Hole Art Contest
      • Student Art Competition
    • Flea Market
    • Garden Tour
    • Lunch & Learn - Online
    • Music at the Museum
    • Teas >
      • High Teas
  • Get Involved
    • Become A Member
    • Donate
    • Volunteer
  • Facility Rental
    • Armstrong Conference Center
    • Lawn at Glendower Mansion
    • Harmon Museum
  • Education
    • Schools Tours
    • History Camp
  • Blog
  • About
    • About Us
    • History of Our Properties
    • William Elmer Harmon
    • Partner Organizations
    • Board and Staff
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us