Tom Rudd and Margo McCafferty to exhibit prints at Reflection Gallery March 3-29

HANCOCK -- The Finlandia University Reflection Gallery will host an exhibit of color reduction relief prints by Tom Rudd and Margo McCafferty, March 3 to 29, 2010.

"Yellow Dog Storm," a color reduction relief print by Tom Rudd and Margo McCafferty. (Photo courtesy Finlandia University)

An opening reception and artist talk will take place from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 4, at the Reflection Gallery, located on the second level of Finlandia's Jutila Center campus (old hospital), 200 Michigan St., Hancock. The reception is open to the public and refreshments will be served.

Tom Rudd, a sculptor, and Margo McCafferty, a painter, create work informed by their wooded surroundings on the Keweenaw Peninsula, often with reference to environmental issues, and especially the quality of water.

In addition to their individual works, for over a decade the two artists together have created series of color reduction relief prints which depict environments and events in places where they have lived or completed residencies.

Some of the relief prints focus on the Cascade Mountains in western Oregon, others on the Allegheny River Valley in western Pennsylvania, Isle Royale National Park, Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore and the Midwest ’s rustbelt. They are presently working on a series that reflects happenings and landscapes of the Keweenaw Peninsula .

The objective of Tom Rudd’s life in the arts is creating visual art that enlightens and stimulates aesthetic sensitivity. Rudd pursues this goal by making art, teaching, administrating, curating and advocating for artists and the visual arts. He has shown and placed his art in public and private venues throughout the world and has received numerous grants and awards.

Before discovering that art was her vocation, Margo McCafferty, a native of the Pacific Northwest, received a degree in political science from Willamette University, Salem, Ore. She began teaching in 1990 after earning an MFA in drawing and painting from Arizona State University. McCafferty’s teaching experience includes teaching English in Japan and instructing painting, drawing, design and printmaking classes for U.S. colleges and universities.

McCafferty’s other endeavors, along with making art full-time, include arts administration on the state level, jurying art exhibits and writing art reviews and criticism. Her drawings, prints and paintings are exhibited and collected internationally.

Rudd and McCafferty will conduct a greeting card printmaking workshop from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 20, 2010, at the Jutila Center. The workshop is open to the public. The cost is $25 per person, with supplies included. Please e-mail finlandiareflectiongallery@gmail.com to reserve one of only 15 available spaces in the workshop.

For additional information, please contact Yueh-mei Cheng, Finlandia associate professor of studio arts, at 906-487-7375 or email yueh-mei.cheng@finlandia.edu.