To support student journalism and the content you love, become a member of The Daily Orange today.

After Ann Laczak retired from her job of 35 years as a home economics teacher, she placed a note on her refrigerator that read, “I want to find my passion.”

Soon after this “manifestation,” Laczak’s mother-in-law gifted her a felting machine — a tool that looks like a sewing machine, but instead uses barbed needles to puncture fibers and intertwine them, creating an entirely new fabric. Laczak was instantly enamored, she said, creating pillows and eventually two-dimensional framed works.

“From that little (instruction) booklet and that machine, I fell in love with felting,” she said.

Laczak, alongside many other artists from the region, displayed their creations at the CNY Art Guild Fine Art Show and Sale this weekend at the Aspen House in Baldwinsville. In addition to Laczak’s felting work, the show featured oil, acrylic and watercolor paintings, photography, metalwork and stained glass pieces. Most works were priced over one hundred dollars.

The CNY Art Guild holds monthly meetings from September to June, often featuring demonstrations for member artists. The group also hosts two juried shows a year, but to multimedia artist and guild vice president Lynn Harnois, the best part of the organization is simply being around so much artistic skill.

“(The other artists’ work) makes me want to just run home and create stuff,” Harnois said. “I’m humbled at everyone’s talent.”

Harnois displayed six stained glass pieces at the exhibition, all boasting vibrant hues that glistened in the early afternoon light. She said she often found inspiration in elements of nature, like the sun or water, and frequently implemented a structure resembling quilt patterns in her work.

Her love for working with stained glass came from a childhood toy — a Lite Brite. The way the colors changed with the addition of light fascinated her, she said. And when she found herself in a stained glass class by chance — she’d expected a watercolor lesson — she immediately knew that she would love the medium.

“When I cut my first piece of glass, I was hooked,” she said.

Harnois used the bottoms of wine and liquor bottles as the focal points of her four pieces. She obtained the glass circles from a company that imprints them with patterns from nature, like a dragonfly or blades of grass, which she said was the perfect addition to her work.

Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor

Harnois also works with pastels, photography, watercolor and acrylic painting and pointillism. Her work, titled “The Season’s First,” which is made entirely out of tiny dots, depicts a collection of yellow, red and orange leaves on a windowsill. Although it’s painstaking, she said the technique creates a brilliant effect.

“There’s no background that’s painted or penciled in,” Harnois said. “It’s all built up with layers of dots.”

Many artists in the guild, including Laczak, ground their work in realism, recalling beautiful scenes from their experiences to reference, superimpose or recreate in their work later on.

Laczak said she drew inspiration from everyday scenes. Her daily walk in the springtime inspired her work, “Forsythia” after she noticed how vibrant yellow flowers in her development contrast with the surroundings.

Robert Hines, an acrylic painter, centers his art on wildlife he encountered, and sometimes photographed, in his time outdoors. Hines’s painting, entitled “Walleyes,” depicts an up-close swarm of fish in an increasingly deep body of turquoise water. His other works, “Partridges” and “Snow Geese,” capture action, as groups of birds soar through empty skies.

“I always had an interest in animals. On the trail, I’ll snap as many pictures as I can of the deer to get more ideas for paintings,” Hines said. “I now basically hunt with a camera.”

Hines took a while to settle on a medium. He tried oil paints and watercolors before recognizing the versatility of acrylics, which are fast drying and have great layering potential, allowing Hines to experiment and create his visions faster.

Hines had been part of other artists’ guilds in the past. He said he appreciated the chance for his work to finally be in the public eye. It has sat in his studio collecting dust for years, he said.

Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor

The CNY Art Guild provided Laczak with a community of creatives. She said it’s a great way to meet like-minded people, draw inspiration from others’ work and processes and appreciate the imagination and skill of other artists.

“As soon as I hang up my art, the first thing I do is go around and look at what everyone else has done,” Laczak said. “It’s just wonderful to see the talent that people have.”

As vice president of the guild, Harnois helps behind the scenes of the show as well. Though it’s a taxing task, she said it’s completely worth it in the end.

“The event is exhausting, the preparation work is exhausting, setting it up on Friday nights is exhausting,” Harnois said. “But, when I can come in on Saturday morning and walk around with my cup of coffee before the show opens, and I can look at all the artwork, I’m blown away at the talent of our members.”

Published on October 17, 2022 at 12:04 am