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Contact: Eleanor Sweeney 518 891-1893 or Adirondack Artists Guild 518
891-2615
Jacqueline H. Altman Watercolors: Then and Now
A solo exhibit with an overview of the artist’s earlier works in
relationship to her recent paintings.
The Adirondack Artists Guild will open its 2008 summer season with an
exhibit of watercolor paintings by Jacqueline H. Altman of Lake Placid and
King of Prussia, PA. The show will run from April 30 through May 29.
Inspired by her views of Mt. Baker and Mt. McKenzie and the Lake
Flower shoreline
as seen from her first apartment on Riverside Drive in 1964,
Jacqueline Altman has been painting “en plein air” in the Adirondacks ever
since. She had arrived that September from her hometown of Wilkes-Barre,
PA, with a degree in Art Education from Moore College of Art in
Philadelphia, to teach art in the newly formed Saranac Lake Central School
District where she taught for 2 years. Never having seen such majestic
mountains or wild woods or lake views, she sought to capture the ever
changing light and colors and forms on canvas and paper as time permitted.
As luck would have it, several wonderful opportunities were
developing for artists in the area during that time. During the summer,
she joined Robert Plumb’s watercolor workshops. These took her into the
outdoors where she discovered many of the wonderful places she continues
to revisit year after year and paints today. The workshops were held in
the now demolished Jones Boathouse on Lake Placid at Victor Herbert Rd.
Hence the precursor to the Lake Placid Center for the Arts was born.
In August of 1965, Sarah Joffee felt it was time for her adult
students and the community to have a place to exhibit and sell their
original artworks. It was then that the Paint and Palette Festival came
into being, still held each year in the Harrietstown Hall in Saranac Lake.
Many of the artists and townspeople Jacqueline met during those years
continue to be painting partners and friends to this day. She also was a
member of the Akwesasne Artists Craft Co-op during its tenure in Saranac
Lake.
Some of the structures, such as the Creamery at Heaven Hill Farms or
the Smith Farm on Bear Cub Rd. in Lake Placid which she has painted are no
longer there and certain landscapes are no longer accessible to the
public, making those older works even more cherished. A record of the
local scenery and history of the area evolved in Ms. Altman’s work as a
result. Having also studied watercolor with Robert Whitney, she learned
the joy of painting florals in addition to the local landscape.
Leaving teaching in Saranac Lake in 1966 for graduate school and a
33 year career teaching art in the Radnor Township School District in
Pennsylvania, Jacqueline retired from teaching in 1999 and continues to
spend her summers and fall in Lake Placid where she has a seasonal
residence, sharing the joy of each new discovery and adventure the area
offers an artist.
Ms. Altman is an exhibiting member of the Adirondack Artists’ Guild
in Saranac Lake, the Adirondack Art Association in Essex, NY and her work
may also be found in the Guy Brewster Hughes Gallery in the Lake Placid
Library, 2471 Main St. Lake Placid, NY. She is a member of the Greater
Norristown Art League in Norristown, PA and has exhibited in numerous
local and regional shows in the Adirondacks and Pennsylvania. Her work may
be found in several private collections in the United States, Canada and
Europe. Her large watercolor of Lake Flower as seen from Riverside Drive,
dedicated to the memory of Ruth Seidenstein, is part of the Saranac Lake
Library art collection.
Several of the earlier paintings of local landscapes will be among
those on view, along with recent works, and will be for sale during her
solo exhibit at the Adirondack Artists’ Guild, April 30th-May
29th, 2008. The opening reception is Friday, May 2nd
from 5:00-7:00 p.m. The public is cordially invited. The Gallery is
located at 52 Main St., Saranac Lake, NY in the former Green’s Market
building. The gallery hours are Tues-Sat. from 10-5 and Sunday 12-3. The
gallery is closed Mondays in winter and spring. For further information,
call the gallery at 518 891-2615, or check the website,
www.adirondackartistsguild.com.
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