And the Caldecott Winners Are...

Cover of The House in the Night
Illustrations by Beth Krommes
2009 Caldecott Medal Winner

HUGE congratulations to children's book illustrator Beth Krommes for receiving the 2009 Caldecott Medal for The House in the Night!! Beth, we are so very excited for you, and so very proud of you! We always knew this was a special book, with it's beautiful and sophisticated black, white, and golden scratchboard images!

Dark in the Song
From The House in the Night
Illustrations by Beth Krommes

Check out one of Beth's award-winning illustrations above, and see more of her beautiful scratchboard and wood engravings on our website.

Cover of A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
Illustrations by Melissa Sweet
2009 Caldecott Honor Book

Another HUGE congratulations goes to Melissa Sweet, who's illustrations for A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams have earned her a Caldecott Honor Book Award!! Melissa, your illustrations for this book are inspired and gorgeous - keep up the great work!

You can also check out more of Melissa's fun and whimsical work on our website.

The Caldecott Medal is the most prestigious award for an illustrator. One is awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children for the most distinguished American picture book published that year. Both talented recipients were participants in Chemers Gallery's 17th Annual Children's Book Illustrators' Show & Signing in 2008.

Other names of note include:

Holly Meade, one of our 2008 Children's Book Illustrators, won a Caldecott Honor in 1997 for her book Hush! A Thai Lullaby.

Mordicai Gerstein, one of our 2007 Children's Book Illustrators, won a Caldecott Medal in 2004 for The Man Who Walked Between the Towers.

CLICK HERE to check out our other fabulous illustrators!

To get on our list for an invite to next year's Children's Book Illustrators' Show & Signing, be sure to sign up for emails by clicking the button below - you can change your preferences at any time!

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Natural Impressions and Progressions of Time

From left to right:
Natural Impressions 310, 308, 307 & 311
Mixed Media on Canvas

Max Rodriguez, we love you! You always come through for us with your gorgeous, textural Natural Impressions. And we haven't forgotten you, Patrick! What a fantastic team!

These beauties look fantastic hanging in a series together or on their own. Available in muted, earthy colors, you can mix and match however you want to create a statement that fits your taste and style. Max and Patrick will also do commissioned pieces, whether they are large-scale or small. They're so easy to work with, and there's very little wait time for your special artwork - they get right to it!

Natural Impressions 312
Mixed Media on Canvas

Max finds inspiration within the natural world and its organic elements, such as dragonflies, seed pods, and leaves. He is intrigued by the effects time has on our surroundings, and the way nature deconstructs itself. Max combines techniques of aged plaster, crackled paint, water damage and oxidized metals, which allows him to reference time and age. "Ultimately, what I hope to achieve is a representation of an artifact, a place or a relic once lost in time but then discovered showing its aged beauty."

From left to right:
Natural Impressions 305, 306, 309, 186 & 187
Mixed Media on Canvas

We love the wonderful textures and asymmetrical compositions of Max's Natural Impressions series. Color and subject are perfectly paired, giving each small work a quiet beauty of its own, and leaving you with a sense of stillness.

These little treasures seem to walk right off the walls, but don't worry, there's always more coming!

Read More:
New Works by Max Rodriguez
NEW ART by Max Rodriguez

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Robin Reichelt Plays With Clay

Ceramic artist Robin Reichelt always intended to earn her doctorate at Penn State, specializing in medieval art and architecture. Along the way, she enrolled in a ceramics course and never looked back. She is now happily obsessed with clay and with creating forms that are both fun and functional, like the brand new sushi bowls and trays she just brought to Chemers Gallery. Not only usable, these bowls and trays make beautiful art pieces, with nuances of color and pattern. Made from high fire porcelain, these pieces are utterly tactile, a joy to handle.

Blue and Gold Floral Sushi Bowl
High Fire Porcelain

Robin explains her attraction to clay as "the physicality and immediacy, the inherent contradiction of working with clay in its different forms. Wet clay is extremely impressionable, malleable. It will assume almost any shape and can reveal your desires. Only during the firing process does clay develop a will of its own, a will to which all clay artists must bow. The heat of the kiln takes our passion, our ideas, our vision, and reshapes it all. Sometimes the result raises us to a new level of creativity, and other times it's a catapult into the abyss. I am in awe of this process whether the end result is a humble piece of tableware or a reference to man's first building material. Both are civilizing. Each time I come back to the studio I experience a sense of wonder and renewal. Each piece of clay is a new beginning. Each firing is a tempering. Each trip through this cycle brings contentment - at least, for me."

Celadon Swirl Sushi Tray
High Fire Porcelain

Hurry into Chemers Gallery to see more of Robin's playful ceramic pieces!

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Infinite Landscapes by Irena Kononova

The Afterglow
Irena Kononova
oil, sand, marble dust on canvas

Award-winning Russian-born artist Irena Kononova has recently given Chemers Gallery nine new works. They traveled over mountains and through the snow to get to us, and they now grace our walls with a dignified serenity. Ranging in size from very large (68" x 48") to very small (10" x 8"), Irena's new paintings are beautiful interrpretations of the landscape as reflected by the sea and sky, perhaps through foggy windowpanes. The Afterglow shows a distant shoreline, sparingly dotted with warm lights, making you think of the sea after a storm has come through. Her use of light and color draws you into her painting until you become a part of it.

Waterways # 2
Irena Kononova
oil, sand, marble dust on canvas

Irena paints using a variety of materials on her large and small scale canvases and boards, which gives each work a richness of texture that changes from every angle. Her images are somewhat abstracted, which leaves them open to interpretation and lets you see what you want to see. These paintings are evokative of autumn days, snowy tundras, and distant seas leading into infinity. Waterways #2 resembles a stand of trees in a blazing glory of gold, reflected in a silent pool of water. The light present at the top of the painting gives a wonderful twist, making you question which is the true reflection.

Irena's small works are striking when used in a series or grace any small space with their charm.

After growing up and attending art school in St. Petersburg, Russia, Irena immigrated to the United States and attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She has won numerous awards and scholarships, and has exhibited her work nationwide, as well as internationally.

You can see more of Irena's beautiful paintings on our website, or come into the gallery to see them in person!

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