NEW EXHIBIT FOR JULY AT THE GOURGAUD GALLERY

NEW EXHIBIT FOR JULY AT THE GOURGAUD GALLERY

By Bob Gilbert

Judy Buckley  "French Fields'

Judy Buckley  "Peru Street"

Judy Buckley  "The Bay"

The new exhibit at the Gourgaud Gallery opening on July 8, 2011 features the paintings of Cranbury resident Judy Buckley.  The show is entitled “Travels – Recent Paintings 2011 – Near and Far”.

I had the pleasure of previewing the exhibit, which includes a variety of landscapes.  There are bodies of water, farm fields, countryside, and marshes, all with dramatic representations of the sky.  In one painting, the outline of a Ferris wheel can be seen on the distant horizon line of the beach.  A Ferris wheel is probably the most impressive, striking, and unique structure associated with beach resorts, and the painting really captured that.

But there are more than landscapes.  One painting is a view from within a church looking out.  It captures some of the interesting features inside the church and the appealing scene outside.  Paintings looking out on something always catch my attention.   

Judy has a BA degree in Art from Georgian Court College, Lakewood, NJ, and has studied art in New York City as well.  She worked for a period in the art department of a New York City advertising agency, but now spends her time painting as well as teaching art at Princeton High School, the Middlesex Youth Center, and the West Windsor Arts Council.

Judy speaks enthusiastically about teaching art.  In adult classes, there is great energy and excitement when a new person begins to paint and discovers the joy within them.  It is contagious!  With high school students, there is discovery, as you never know what is in a person’s mind until they express it in their art work.  Each student brings their own approach to art, and witnessing this helps Judy to keep an open mind and to see things in a new way.

Judy was interested in art as a child, but really got started when, as a high school student, she took lessons from a highly regarded artist in Red Bank, NJ, whom she still remembers fondly as a great inspiration.  Judy is especially grateful to her mom who drove her forty-five minutes each way to attend these lessons.  This is a great example of how a caring parent and an outstanding teacher can make a difference in a person’s life!

Judy paints primarily landscapes, as she enjoys the challenge of capturing the beauty of the places she has seen, whether it be the Jersey shore or some exotic location halfway around the world.  She finds that as her art evolves, she is less concerned with realism and more interested in the play and interaction of color. 

In addition to her own paintings, Judy is displaying paintings by some of her students at the Middlesex Youth Shelter.  These students earn high school credits in Judy’s art class, which is funded by the Cranbury Arts Council.

Additional paintings may be seen on the Gourgaud Gallery Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Gourgaud-Gallery/108657442495068?sk=info

The exhibit can be viewed at The Gourgaud Gallery, Town Hall, 3-A North Main St., Cranbury, NJ 08512.  The Artist reception will be held on Friday, July 8 from 6-8 PM.  The Gallery is open on the 1^st, 3^rd and last Sunday of every month and during regular business hours of Town Hall, Monday through Friday from 9AM to 5 PM.