DP Warner – landscape painter & Cheri Yarnell – ceramicist

 

The Artists

Cheri Anderton-Yarnell

My 50 years of working with clay has been an intriguing and delightful journey that has led me to pursue many possibilities.  My work is always changing but there are a few constants: I work in porcelain and white stoneware, most pieces begin on the potter’s wheel and many receive sculptural additions or sgraffito decoration while others are finished in vibrant glazes and receive multiple firings to achieve unique depth of color.

My designs and color choices are influenced by my rural lifestyle  as well as my interest in and concern for our natural environment.  Some pieces are quite whimsical, especially my mugs which feature playful botanical and animal imagery. For 25 years I have made 20 pieces each year  called “On The Edge” that address my abiding concern for our natural environment and endangered or imperiled species.  These pieces are adorned  with humpback whales, amphibians, wolves, etc.  All my pieces are done completely by one potter from wedging to firing.  I live in Northwestern Pennsylvania and show my work in  several galleries and annual shows.  My work has been published in the Lark books, 500 Animals and 500 Teapots.

I create each piece individually, from wedging the clay in preparation to forming each vessel on the potter’s wheel or hand building.  Some pieces receive surface treatment using handmade stamps or the use of crochet or tatting for texture.  Much of the work involves alteration through manipulating and through sculpting.  My work is primarily high fired porcelain or stoneware which receives two firings, one to harden and toughen the clay for further application of color.  Color is achieved through painting or airbrushing with glazes which I have formulated myself from raw glaze material.  My glazes reflect 3 decades of experimentation and most pieces receive multiple application of color through a layering process in order to achieve vibrancy. Each year I create a smaller line of earthenware prices, a low fire clay, these are finished with glazes or smoke fired which is a more primitive process.

DP Warner

DP Warner’s earliest memories are of growing up in Connecticut. He spent hours playing outdoors, no matter the weather, learning about his environment and nature. He built forts in the woods and sloshed through the salt marshes with friends. He played on the river by raft and later by boat. At his grandparents’ farm he hiked the woods the artist André Smith had painted in a mural on all four walls of their dining room. This visual left a huge imprint on DP.

Shortly after he turned ten, his family moved to eastern Pennsylvania and several years later to central Florida. It took a while to make new friends, so he started to make drawings and paintings during alone times. His mother found an artist willing to teach DP watercolors in his class. His focus was the landscape. Summers were spent outdoors. He camped and canoed in Vermont and learned to identify names of trees, plants and birds. He continued to make images even through school: “My class notes were mostly doodles of imagined scenes.”

During high school DP started playing the drums in bands. This led him to many places after he graduated. “I went to Roanoke College in Virginia wanting to study music and instead graduated with a B.A. in the Visual Arts.” He would go on to live in over a dozen states from the east coast to the west. While continuing to pursue music in different bands, DP started working in a series of art galleries in the Mid-Atlantic states for several years. Leaving gallery work, he was employed as the resident artist for a large greenhouse and nursery company. This was his return to nature and the outdoors. His active involvement in environmental concerns became a major theme in his early artwork as a professional and remains a residual influence in his paintings today.

While raising a family, DP returned to school, earning a M.F.A. in Painting from the University of Arizona. Then he embarked on a 30-year career in teaching Art at the University of Arizona, University of Montana and Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. He was recognized twice in Who’s Who of American Educators.

DP’s paintings, drawings and installations have received awards from juried and group exhibitions around the country. His work has found homes in many corporate and private collections. Now retired from teaching, DP lives in Meadville, Pennsylvania and works from his studio there.

Artist Statement

Primarily a landscape painter, I wish to convey my sense of beauty that I observe in nature.  My primary medium is oil paints.  I seek to capture the mood of a subject that has caught my eye, just as a musician tries to interpret the feel of a piece of music.   The subject observed could be from our surroundings, something that may go unnoticed, or an intimate setting which has grabbed my attention.  Whether it’s in the lighting, contrast, color or atmosphere, I try to capture that moment’s imprint.

I enjoy communing with nature, being in her presence and contemplating her influences.  The act of painting sketches outdoors, en plein air, sparks a collaboration and is usually finished on location within a few hours.  If worthy, this information may be subtly tweaked later in the studio.  At another time, the study might influence a larger painting aided by my memories of the moment.  Photographs can be helpful but are not a substitute for the original experience.

 

ARRIVE EARLY & EXPLORE FOXBURG!

There is no admission for the exhibit opening.  For those wishing to attend the concerts, you may call for reservations to (724) 659-3153 to pay cash or check at the door, or pay by credit card and buy online here.

And while at the RBG, be sure to save time to shop for that special gift from the first floor offerings of talented Cooperative Artists from the region.

While in Foxburg, enjoy a walk along the Allegheny River trail or rent bicycles or enjoy a pontoon ride with Foxburg Tours in the morning or early afternoon!  Have lunch at the Allegheny Grille with seating overlooking the Allegheny River, or for more casual fare, at Foxburg Pizza with salads, sandwiches and pizza.

Save time to enjoy wine tasting or wine flights on the newly remodeled patio at Foxburg Wine Cellars.

Make a weekend of it and spend the night in Foxburg in the lovely Foxburg Inn

Or if the Foxburg Inn is sold out, stay up the river at the Emlenton bed and breakfast, The Barnard House.

The 2024 season Red Brick Gallery and Gift Shop hours are Fridays 1:00 PM – 6:00 PM, Saturdays 11:00 PM –7:00 PM, and Sundays 12:00 noon – 5:00 PM.