Michael Fratrich, Tilting at Windmills Gallery’s bestselling artist, will be at the Manchester gallery. Join us on Saturday, 02/17 from 5pm to 7 pm with a Q & A session with the artist starting at 6 p.m. Wine and hors d’oeuvres will be served and a video of Fratrich completing a painting will be played throughout the event.
About the Artist and his work:
Influenced by Eric Sloane, the great American landscape painter, illustrator and author of countless self-illustrated books, Fratrich began his career painting New England landscapes where Sloane’s impact can be seen — stone walls, old farmhouses, barns. “Michael has taken it a step further,” said Terry Lindsey, owner of Tilting at Windmills Gallery and lifelong artist. “He incorporates color. The luminosity of his pieces captivates people. You can see the glow in the snow, in the windows, the sunsets.”
A number of paintings by Fratrich, including his most recent 54″ unframed oil painting of “Amsterdam,” a scene in New York City, will be on display at the opening. The realistic painting depicts a day in the summer. Women in flowing, sleeveless dresses saunter along the downtown streets, promenade the bustling sidewalks, and enjoy the flowers at the corner store. Fratrich’s 38″ x 52″ oil on linen painting from, “Vermont Maple Sugaring,” implies calmness whereas “Amsterdam” evokes activity. It was maple sugaring season when Fratrich produced this scene, a snowy setting around a horse-drawn sleigh.
“Winter Reds” and “Back Country Sorbe”, two of Fratrich’s classics, will also be on display at the gallery. The painting titled “Back Country Sorbe” depicts a winter day at nightfall on linen. A sequence of interconnected gray gable roof barns catches the viewer’s attention as snow blankets the surrounding area. A stone wall breaks through a split rail fence in the front. The hillside is lined with barren trees in the background. A similar scene can be found in “Winter Reds,” except the barn in this painting is composed of red painted wood and polished stone. A shaft of sunlight casts the trees on the slope behind the barn a golden crimson.