Image: “Adirondack Morning” a painting by Bob Willman
Micropolis Cooperative Art Gallery will hold a Meet the Artists Reception on Friday, September 8, between 5 and 7 p.m. Bob Willman, who works in both oils and watercolor, will be the featured guest artist.
Bob Willman was born in Little Falls, NY, in 1959. He received a Fine Art Degree from Herkimer County Community College, Herkimer, NY, and Munson Williams Proctor Institute School of Art, Utica, NY. Interested in drawing and painting at a very early age, it wasn’t until 1987 that Willman began painting full-time. He opened his first gallery in Little Falls in 1989 and currently maintains a studio at his 19th-century farmhouse in the beautiful countryside of upstate New York.
Willman’s paintings have been exhibited in the National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Old Forge, NY; The Fall National, Southern Vermont Art Center, Manchester, VT; The Pennsylvania Watercolor Society International Exhibition, Erie, PA; The Northeast Watercolor Society National Exhibition of American Watercolors, Goshen, NY; Impressions of New England Exhibition, Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT and numerous other juried exhibitions.
His works have received numerous awards in juried exhibitions and are in many permanent collections, including museums, corporations, universities, and private collections throughout the United States, England, and Canada. Robert’s painting Adirondack White, Exploring the Hush, was used for the 2007 poster promoting The National Exhibition of American Watercolors in Old Forge, NY.
For years, Willman taught a popular watercolor class at the Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts as well as outdoor painting workshops at his studio. He was also invited to do painting demonstrations for the watercolor classes at Syracuse University.
Willman is well known for capturing the seasonal changes of the Mohawk Valley in Central New York and the nearby Adirondack Mountains. He also enjoys painting along the coast of Maine, where he at one time maintained a summer studio in Mackerel Cove on Bailey Island, ME.
“My aim in painting is to convey my feelings toward my subject as I see it on a particular day. I am always fascinated with light and atmosphere and how they can transform an ordinary subject into an extraordinary one. I am always striving to capture a feeling and mood in my work. I hope that others will enjoy my work as much as I enjoy creating it,” stated Willman.
In addition to the artwork of the featured artist, the gallery is filled with paintings, drawings, pastels, photographs, fiber art, mixed media, glass, digital art, jewelry, pottery, woodland assemblages, baskets, turned items of exotic wood and fine art cards by members of Micropolis Cooperative. The members are Betsy Batchelor, Paula Becker, Dan Bridge, Karen J. F. Cooper, Ruth Christie Crotty, Cheryl Gutmaker, Michelle Harring, Alex Higgins, Linda Hinkle, Kathy Klompas, Linda Kollar, Kevin Kuhne, Phyllis Lapi, Anne Marie LaVallee, Jonathan Moore, Lynda Naske, Kathie Raneri, Katie Santomartino, Cindy Sheeler, Sandy Smith, Martha Starke, Gabriella Vardai-Davidson and Eileen Wrightsman.
The reception is free and open to the public.
The gallery, located inside Mohawk Harvest Cooperative Market at 30 N. Main St., Gloversville, is open Monday-Friday / 10 am-6 pm and Saturdays from 9 am until 2 pm.