"Pots, Prints, and Paintings"

COURTESY PHOTO 500 PSI, Tim Lienhardt The next exhibit rising at the Alliance for the Arts is exactly what the title implies. The "pots" on pedestals…the "prints and paintings" hung across the gallery walls. But it's the creators behind the pieces that will really grab the viewers' attention. "Pots, Prints, and Paintings" opens Friday Oct. 5, 2007 with a special opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m.

Both featured artists, Tim Lienhardt and Barbara Yeomans, share a passion for printmaking, an art form similar in method to silkscreen printing, which with more people may be familiar. It involves layers of color and careful alignment, not to mention specialized training on printmaking equipment. Both paint with various mediums. Lienhardt also works with ceramics.

Lienhardt was introduced to printmaking as a young adult. He experimented with wood block, linoleum block and silkscreen printing. Later he honed his skills in etching, lithography, and photolithography. More recently, Lienhardt visited and worked with painters, printmakers, sculptors, and potters in Japan, including world famous Minoru Fukuda and Kunihiko Isshiki. The experience got him hooked on ceramics. Upon returning to the United States, he traded his press for a potters wheel and kiln. Today he's actively involved in the Southwest Florida art scene.

COURTESY PHOTO Concrete Jungle, Monotype by Barbara Yeomans Barbara Yeomans also thrives locally, although she gathers inspiration internationally from her travels. She brings precision and fine craftsmanship, to print making, as her affinity for nature and culture enrich her artistry. Private collectors

across the states and in Canada and Europe own works by Yeomans. She also currently displays prints and paintings in New York and New Jersey.

Stephen Johnson will be featured in the Member Gallery during this show. This artist won the juror's attention this summer when his work was chosen to show in the Alliance's 21st Annual 2D/3D exhibit.

"Pots, Prints, and Paintings" will be on display through Nov. 3. Meet the artists at the opening reception on Friday Oct. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Alliance for the Arts. The Bettie Page Boys, with Krista and Leo Johnson, and Jason Slaughter, will perform.

The Alliance for the Arts leads and supports the artists and arts organizations in our area as the state designated Local Arts Agency for Lee County. The Alliance for the Arts galleries are open from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday and from 10 to 3 on Saturdays, located at 10091 McGregor Boulevard just south of Colonial Boulevard. Visit www.artinlee.org for more details of all the excitement our community has to offer. ¦