Imagine being invited to visit 17 artist’s studios in one day. Art Station Studios, a community building in Hightstown, holds just such an open house on Saturday, December 2. Visit the studios from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. At the evening reception from 7 to 9 p.m., there will be spiced wine, finger foods, and coffee. Among the exhibitors: Robert Hummel of Plainsboro and Emily S. Townsend and John Scott Murdoch, both of West Windsor.
Hummel will be working on his latest addition to the NJ Towns in Cartoon series. He was the featured artist at Orpha’s Coffee Shop for the month of November spotlighting a collection of images from area towns.##M:[more]##
“Imagine the Nassau Inn on snow-covered Palmer Square with the Christmas tree aglow as billowing smoke rises from the inn’s chimney,” Hummel says. Another painted scene depicts Cranbury’s Brainerd Lake with sailboats on a fall afternoon. There are also images of Hillsborough’s Duke Farms, where Hummel is a guide.
A New Jersey native, he grew up in Sayreville where he performed and created his own magic show and continued to perform during his teen years. After many years working and living outside of New Jersey he settled in Plainsboro.
Hummel also paints murals and has designed themed stage set decor for events at KatManDu in Trenton. “The outdoor stage design background was designed to appear as though your were looking out at a tropical sunset paradise,” says Hummel.
Emily Townsend of West Windsor will be showing “The Beauty of the Earth, Paintings from the Last Century,” at her studio during the open house. “My newest body of works explores the natural world in reliquaries, collages, and paintings; communicating our need to honor and maintain a healthy relationship with the planet so all life can survive,” she says.
Her work has been shown in galleries and art centers in New York, Maryland, Indiana, Georgia, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. She studied at the University of Maryland, the Ecole de Beaux Arts in France, and at the Yellow Barn Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland. She has undergraduate degrees in fine arts and architecture and a graduate degree in architecture.
West Windsor’s John Murdoch works in traditional portraiture and still-life. He uses oil paint and gold or silver leaf on canvas or wood panel. He attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago and Atelier LeSueur in Excelsior, Minnesota. An oil painting instructor at the Princeton Arts Council, he was named artist of the year this year.
“We enjoy the evening hours at the studio and with less lighting and candles here and there, the studio becomes a bit more magical,” says Hummel. “This is a great time to invite the guests into each studio to sit relax meet others.
— Lynn Miller
Open House, Art Station Studios, 148 Monmouth Street, Hightstown, 609-443-1386. www.artstationstudios.com. Open house and tour of the studios of Robert Hummel, John Murdoch, Ingrid Davis, Susan Winters, Judy Stein, Edna Fisher, Robert Cagan, Bonnie Long, Amy Fuhrman, Juanita Yoder, Kenneth Robinson, Enrico Bombieri, Linda Gebhard, Kat Brodrick, Emily Townsend, Jeff Stauder, and Nora Bowers. Free. Closed from 2 to 7 p.m. Saturday, December 2, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Reception, 7 to 9 p.m.
