Rye Art Study Group:

Inaugural Art Boutique

Shines Light on Local Artists

Rye Art Study’s inaugural mini art boutique will shine a light on the talent of local artists within the community who create paintings, quilts, prints and fabric art.

This year’s boutique is slated for November 11, with refreshments at 9:30 a.m. and program at 10 a.m. at the Rye Congregational Church. The public is welcome to attend, browse art, and meet the artists, including sea glass artist Cindy Sorenson, mixed media artist and teacher Claire Russo and Gigi Badolato, a quilter.

Cindy Sorenson’s sea glass artwork was inspired by walks along the New Hampshire Seacoast. After, she and her husband Mark bought their beach house in 2010, they became regular beach walkers, picking up a few pieces of sea glass on most of their strolls. Before long, Cindy found herself with a massive sea glass collection. She had jars throughout her house and felt called to do something creative with them.

With that, Sea Lou Designs was born. Cindy creates framed pieces from unaltered sea glass and other natural items discovered on local beaches.

Gigi, a co-chair of the show, will display several of her quilts, including a square nautical themed quilt, created through a mystery project. Instructions for the quilt were doled out weekly, and Gigi pieced the quilt together without knowing how the final product would appear. The Hampton resident began sewing when she was in elementary school, which later led to sewing clothing for herself and her family. She transitioned to serious quilting later in life when she was invited to join a group of established quilters in 2001. Since then she’s made quilts for gifts, newborns, and charity projects.

“It has been a wonderful experience since then,” she says. “There is no end to the feeling of accomplishment when the last stitch is sewn.”

Claire Russo, the other co-chair, is well known locally for her art creativity, and her work teaching drawing at the Rye Public Library, a nod to her 34 years as a school art teacher. In her own art, Claire works in watercolor, acrylics, fabric and wool. Her husband Barry is a woodworker and creates the unique miniature frames for Claire’s tiny paintings, which can be found at Local Color, Seacoast Florist and Churchill's in Rye.

Claire’s work is inspired by the ocean and she has made nautical jewelry as well as paintings of local spots like Jenness Beach. “My artwork is inspired by my love of the Seacoast and the natural world, plants, flowers and birds,” she says. “There is so much beauty on the Seacoast which finds its way into my artwork, such as the rocks, the waves, the lighthouses, the sunsets, the wildlife, the gardens.”

Claire’s drawing class at the Rye Public Library, held Tuesday mornings at 9:30 a.m., is open for anyone who would like to attend.

Other Artist participating at the November event include Tracy Hines; Dawn Lake; Debby Turbide; Lindi Gessin; Susan Scott; Lucretia Gordon; Kathryn Job, Norma Torti, Ethel Hills and Margaret Potvin.Jane Jensen, Monica Fraser, Brenda Slattery