It's not too unusual for the love of art and the ability to create it to pass
from one generation to the next. To have it pass to the third generation does
not happen as often—the Wyeth family notwithstanding. But the current exhibit at
Canal Frame-Crafts Gallery in Washington Crossing, Pa. is showing works by our
very own local triad—Betty Minnucci, the matriarch; Kim Minnucci, her daughter;
and Christan Minnucci, her granddaughter.
Says gallery owner, Debbie Crow, "After
hosting an interesting show last spring featuring artist couples, I developed
the idea to do a different type of 'relative' show by featuring
multi-generational artists."
According to Crow, all three women love
the outdoors and nature, all have painted in watercolor and pastel but prefer to
work in oils. Betty has a degree in education and has taught in Central Bucks
County school districts.
Kim has a degree in art education and
has been teaching art for ten years. Christan studied art history in college.
There are approximately twenty-five
paintings in this exhibit—a good representation showing how, though closely
related and influenced by one another, each artist is true to her own style.
Betty Minnucci tends to be the more
traditional of the three. Her "Cantaloupe With Yellow Flowers" is a luscious
still life, made even more so by the blue napkin that anchors the composition.
She chose to portray "Geraniums"
showing the red blooms in a window box on an old gray building in a soft palette
rather than going for a bombastic red for the blooms. Her "The Meadow" is also
done in a palette capturing the peace of the scene. For "Mill Creek," however,
she turned to a strong blue for the creek which is bordered in snow leading the
eye in to the yellow and red structures in the distance.
She's a expert in painting snow scenes
in that she works every color that is used in all other elements of the
paintings into the light and shadows of the snow, thus unifying the entire
image.
Christan Minnucci, Betty's
granddaughter, does the same thing, but in a very different way. Her "Spring
Creek" and "Path Through The Mountains" are both done in jewel tones of emerald,
garnet, sapphire with bold shots of yellow laid on in rhythmic strokes of her
palette knife.
Christan paints outdoors with her
grandmother and, although she has studied still life and figure drawing, she
leans toward this technique that she has been solely taught and honed by her
grandmother, Betty.
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However, gallery owner Crow says though
Christan's skills and her technique have been taught by her grandmother—and the
fact that they enjoying painting plein air together, "Christan takes on a unique
view point of her own in all her compositions."
She seems to be drawn to winding paths
and streams as in her "River Bend Through The Mountains" and "Deep Into The
Woods." Her work is bright. It is bold. Her strokes are rhythmic and they are
alive with color and energy.
And Betty's daughter Kim's paintings
are also alive with color which reflect her active lifestyle. Exhibition
materials tell about her love of the outdoors. She's an avid kayaker, mountain
biker, runner and ski patroller. Her paintings in this exhibit reflect her love
of being on the water.
She has a portrait, "Bass," showing the
glorious fish swimming in all its full glory of iridescent colors of blue,
magenta and a bright yellow for its side and underbelly. And her watercolor, "Petrophish,"
seen swimming through orange waters is highlighted with delicate gold details.
Her sense of humor comes through in
"Where Are you Going?" a lively painting of two colorful fish swimming in
opposite directions. And her knowledge of color interaction is seen in "Shad"
where a primarily blue fish with green subtleties swims in an orange sea.
Anchoring this exhibit are three
paintings of sunflowers. The three artists decided to paint the same bouquet of
yellow and orange-tone sunflowers. Matriarch Betty Minnucci portrayed hers in a
traditional setting on a tabletop in a corner showing a blue background.
Daughter Kim, using a light hand and adding graceful red outlines, chose to
ignore that some were a deep orange yellow. Her sunflowers are all yellow.
Granddaughter, Christan's sunflowers are strong and painted in bold thick
strokes.
Aside from the fact that all three of
these artists are accomplished in her own right, it's interesting to see the
influences each has played on the others—not only from the grandmother down, but
also in reverse. And to see how each artist has assimilated those influences and
yet remained true to her own manner of expression.
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Many thanks to the Crossing
Vineyards and Winery
for their assistance and hospitality.
Bucks County Wine
Trail 2016 Arts Festival
April 16 & 17, 2016
Crossing
Vineyards and Winery, in conjunction with Canal Frame-Crafts Gallery, will
display paintings in its barrel room.
Artists Betty, Kim and Christian Minnucci (three
generations of painters) will offer a live art demo during the weekend. The
artists will paint the winery’s landscape and surroundings from various
locations.
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