Mixed Media Artist
b. 1957 Birmingham, England
My work coincides with the seasons here in upstate New York and reflects the duality of my vision. The light transparency of watercolor is balanced with the strength, weight and grounding of materials such as bluestone and wood.
Memories, images and words, like the irregular rocks within these cairns, are stored inside me. I would not be who I am without the pieces of my jagged history.
Angela Gaffney-Smith is an artist of the Catskills. She was born in England in 1957 became a citizen of the U.S. in 1972, received her B.A. in Art History and Visual Arts from SUNY New Paltz. Two distinct mediums to convey a connection to the
Catskill Mountains and Hudson River.
"I'm inspired by my Irish heritage and the Native American stone piles here in the Catskills. My construction of bluestone cairns begin organically for personal reasons and resulted in cairns ranging from 2 inches to 7 feet tall. I use bluestone from the remains of an old quarry on our property. These cairns are vessels for thoughts and images and often contain meaningful relics of people and places. They begin with an infinite circle at the base and wind upward to a point of air and light.
The use of watercolor best captures the light of forest, streams, rocks or storms. I'll also combines bits and pieces of watercolor paintings and prints in collage.
My paintings are included in private collections in the U. S. and Ireland. Cairns are in numerous private collections and the 5’ tall bluestone installation, "Ringneck", marks the entrance to the sculpture trail at the Woodstock School of Art, Woodstock, NY."
Saugerties, New York 12477,
By appointment