The work of local painter, Gina Fullerton and ceramic artist, Susan Fox Hirschmann, will be featured in the Harbor Gallery at the Nature Center of Cape May for the month of August with a ‘Meet the Artists Reception’ on Friday, August 4th from 4-6pm. “We are so pleased to host these two amazing local artists who are so inspired by the natural world around us”, explains Gretchen Whitman, Sanctuary Director. Light refreshments will be served. All artwork is for sale, with a portion of sales going to support New Jersey Audubon’s Nature Center of Cape May. The Harbor Gallery is located at Nature Center of Cape May at 1600 Delaware Ave, Cape May.

A lifelong creative, Gina Fullerton is an artist who opted out of her old life several years back to move to a little cottage by the bay. There, she works in various media including oils, acrylics, printmaking, and mixed media. Gina is inspired by her passions for the creatures and plants of the region, as well as her travels, and the landscapes of the Delaware bayshore. She has not looked back. “For the first time ever my painting most closely reflects the cacophony and joy of my interior life.” Explains Gina.

“Although I didn’t receive a formal art education, I wasn’t completely self taught, either.” Explains Gina. “My grandfather was a professional artist who ensured my siblings and I had the best supplies and our household was full of art books and original paintings. As a young artist, I worked painstakingly in pen and ink and crisp, exacting calligraphy. I minored in Art History in college and took many studio art classes as I could as an English major. I’ve traveled to cities here and abroad to indulge my passion for art and architecture and continue to do so as often as I can.”

Gina’s resume includes cookbook illustrations, a massive school mural, commissions and set pieces for a local original play. She has been selling her artwork professionally for the last 10-15 years and continues to participate in classes and workshops with professional artists/teachers.

Ceramic Artist, Susan Fox Hirschmann, has a lifetime of studies in the arts, clay, and design. But her return to her magical home here in Cape May County, in Wildwood Crest, two years ago, has brought her new inspiration. These beaches, these paths she roamed as a child are now a daily source of inspiration: the sunsets, the birds, the butterflies, the ocean, the dune grasses, all are magic gems in her passion to create in clay. Her youth here, growing up two blocks from the beach, was a precious time playing in the sand. Her first art painting class was at Cape May Physick Estate when she was seven. Those early creative experiences are joyful reminders of a creative childhood in Cape May County.

Susan studied at American University (BA) and Corcoran School of Art (Ceramics and Interior Design) both in Washington DC. Her work is in collections and homes worldwide and she has won numerous awards for her unique work, as well as being featured and published in fine craft books and magazines. Her work is also in the White House Collection of Crafts. She has been designing and creating in clay, making functional and art pottery for over forty years.

“The joy of working in clay is my passion,” she states, “and my years on the beaches, the trails, all of Cape May’s natural abundance, influence my work. Carving sea shells, ocean waves, dune grasses and familiar faces enjoying them all, is incorporated into my work. Color and texture, like those found in the sea scapes of local sunsets, are represented in the clay. I love that people can enjoy my work, for then the circle, from maker to user, is complete and continues to create that magic I feel being a ceramic artist. To give others joy with my work is truly fulfilling!”

Most of Susan’s work begins on the potter’s wheel, with stoneware or porcelain clay and after intricate carving or additions, the work is fired in her kilns. Then she glazes each, with her own glazes, before a second firing to 2400 F. for permanence and durability. Most glazes are either painted or airbrushed on each piece. Many pieces have added natural reeds and bamboo, adding texture, much like the plants right outside your door! Each piece is a six-week process from wet clay to finished piece. But each is one of a kind and unique.

The work from Susan’s hands is ceramic art that is always changing like the oceans and the seasons. Susan has said that to be perpetually creative, especially doing custom designs for special homes, continues to inspire her! You can visit Susan’s Art Pottery Studio on her website www.potteryart.biz or contact her at artpottery@earthlink.net.

For more information please contact Nature Center of Cape May 609-427-3045. Art lovers are encouraged to come and meet artists at the Nature Center of Cape May from 4-6pm on the first Friday of the month and then head over to The Gallery at Ferry Park for their artists’ opening reception which runs from 5-7pm on the first Friday of the month as well.