OPENING NOVEMBER 3 -- 5:30 PM TO 7:30 PM
On display November 3 through November 30
"Recent Works -- Trips and Trees" are paintings from the artist's travels both near and far. Whether it's Indonesia, Rwanda, Scotland, Colorado, Michigan, Alaska or in her own backyard in Maryland, Kesra Hoffman keeps a camera close at hand, snapping images that inspire her on-site, and recreates those breath--catching moments through her paintings in her Maryland studio.
Kesra Hoffman is a native of Middletown, Md., but also has close ties to the Greenwich area, with her grandmother, aunts and other family members living in the area. Kesra has been painting landscapes of her home and travels since 1996. Growing up in an area rich with farmland and forests cultivated within her a passion for the natural world. As a child, traveling worldwide with her parents instilled a desire to share her excitement for the beauty around her.
Kesra works mainly in gouache, a medium similar to watercolor. Her paintings portray the rich colors, dramatic moods and cohesive shapes of the water, landforms and skies reflective of her worldwide travels.
"I find a thrill in the constantly changing dialogue between light/shadow and nature. For me, painting is about capturing that excitement and translating it onto paper," said Hoffman. Also a primary source of inspiration for her work is the relationship and balance between man and nature. She noted "so often one needs to look hard to find nature in man's world. I am always inspired when I must look hard to find man in the world of nature."
Kesra received a minor in Education, and a Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art in 1994 from Principia College, in Ill. As a post-graduate, Kesra traveled for 2 months in France, England, and Scotland, with 17 other art majors from the college, studying, sketching and painting. For the year of 1995, she toured 17 US states and 6 European countries with "Cast E"of Up With People. Encouraged by friends, family and her own passion to express herself artistically, she returned to Middletown in 1996 to paint landscapes professionally. She still travels whenever possible, with camera in hand, grasping the excitement of the natural landscape in her mind and imagining future paintings. In addition to painting and teaching private art lessons, Kesra works part time at ThorpeWood, an outdoor environmental education center, as Art Director and Programs Assistant. She is also involved with Through the Eyes of Children: The Rwanda Project, as a Project Coordinator, which was founded by her late uncle, David Jiranek of Old Greenwich, Conn.
Kesra's work is currently represented by Gallery 30 in Gettysburg, PA, and also shown at the Wishing Tree Cafe in Frederick, Md. She has displayed her work for more than eight years at VanGilder Gallery & Pottery in Gapland, Md., which has enabled Kesra to take part in numerous Valley Network Studio Tours that biannually feature local artists in studios across the valley. She has also exhibited throughout Maryland, Connecticut, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York, and Ohio. This is her third exhibit at Arcadia Coffee Company, her first being in 1997. For more information on Kesra Hoffman's Land Escapes exhibition at Arcadia Coffee Company, call 203-637-8766 or visit www.ArcadiaCoffee.com. More information on the artist can be obtained by visiting www.KesraHoffman.com.
