“Vision & Perspectives” Art Exhibition at Workhouse Arts Center

Photographers from Workhouse Associate Artist showcase different points of view as seen through the camera lens

Opening on May 5 and on exhibit until June 1, the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA will showcase an exhibition by photographers, Kathy Strauss, Rick Reda, Michael Berg, Karen Rexrode, Linda Carlson, Bonnie Ferguson Butler, Helen Goodrum, and Glenn Cook. Their show, Vision & Perspectives” showcases each photographer’s point of view as seen through the lens of their camera.

The artists will be on hand to talk about their work and the processes they use at the opening reception on May 10, 2014. It will be held from 6-9pm in W9 – the Workhouse Associate Artists gallery. The Workhouse Arts Center is located at 9601 Ox Rd., Lorton, VA 22079. Gallery hours are Mon.-Fri: 11am-6pm; Sun: 12-5pm.

The artists have created pieces that will stimulate conversations, spark imagination, and bring smiles to all who see their work. Kathy says, “Have you ever walked by a scene & what you see takes your breath away? You remember these images in your dreams, they might be clear, they might be small & slightly out of focus… but for some reason it sticks with you… you feel it’s energy… it makes you feel good. I try to capture this energy in each piece I create — allowing the viewer to feel.”

Kathy Strauss loves telling stories through her photography and art. Her graphic design background gives her imagery a distinct clean style that electrifies each image with precision and harmony. In her pieces, she uses a digital technique called High Dynamic Range to exaggerate the linear aspects of the scene, invigorating just the right spark, to bring each image to life.

She is a long-time member of the Workhouse Arts Center where she exhibits her work and is a course instructor. In addition to the WAA, she shows her work at various art festivals and other galleries throughout the Washington Metropolitan area and mid-Atlantic. Her work has garnered numerous awards. Kathy is a resident of Lake Ridge, VA. You can find out more about her and her work at www.imagewrks.net or her photo portfolio, http://imagefoto.smugmug.com.

Rick Reda has been a photographer for over forty years. Specializing in landscapes and wildlife, he has traveled from Alaska to Antarctica. He started with a makeshift darkroom set up in the bathroom of a two-bedroom apartment in Detroit, developing and producing color prints. Within a few short years, his photographs were on display in the Trimpe Gallery in Detroit.

Over the years he has transitioned from film photography to digital photography. His current works include items in both media. Film media include color, black and white and slides.

In addition to gallery displays, he has also published his photographs in the print media, which can be found at blurb.com. His works are on display each month in Gallery 902 at the Workhouse in Lorton, VA. To see more, you can visit his website at rickredaphotos.com.

Michael Berg is a fine art landscape and nature photographer. Born in England, he grew up in Canada and several eastern and mid-western states in the United States. He was introduced to photography in his early teens by his father and that interest has remained with him his entire life. As a boy and then a young man, photography was more about the tools than the output – more about the exquisite assemblage of metal and glass of the camera and the magical process of the darkroom – than about the content of a finely seen and finished photograph. Over time, and after many years pursuing a non-photographic living, he has begun to understand the potential of that exquisite tool to convey to others how I see and experience the world around him. Now retired, Michael is devoting himself full-time to his photography, and is a juried Associate Artist at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, VA., where his photographs are exhibited.
Karen Rexrode. The camera is a tool that can begin an incredible journey. For me the process moves from a still photograph to printing on fabric, covering the image with wax, even laying the image on cracked plaster. As a child I carried a small instamatic camera, my father was a photographer and his trade tools were exotic and intriguing. I have moved from that small instamatic to dedicated infrared cameras and studio lights. My style is sensual, I love the human form and everything that comes from nature. You can follow my exploits in my blog at www.karenrexrode.typepad.com.
Linda Carlson grew up in St. Louis, Missouri and moved to the Northern Virginia area in l963. The next year, her family moved to Japan, then to Hawaii and The Netherlands. In l982, after a four-year residence in the Netherlands, she returned to the Northern Virginia area and now resides in Manassas, Virginia. Linda’s experiences living abroad provide a rich tapestry of visual imagery and ideas that continue to influence her work. Her primary focus has been photography which, over time, has evolved to embrace the excitement of mixed media work.
Bonnie Ferguson Butler is an award-winning photographer and painter, who exhibits in Building W-9 at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton. The most exciting moment in her photographic career was a First Place prize as judged by Hullihen Williams Moore, student of Ansel Adams. Her primary loves are travel photography and painting outdoors; she is President/Founder of the Pastel Society of Virginia. Keep up with her art activities at bfbutler.blogspot.com.
Helen Goodrum, a Northern Virginia artist earned a degree in photography from the Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, with continued studies in the fine arts program at George Mason University. She is an active member in the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center and the Art League in Alexandria. Her art has been juried into and won awards at many Northern Virginia art clubs. Though she has lived locally all her life, her photographs and paintings reflect her love for travel and different cultures.

Her work in both painting and photography captures the bold, and colorful aspects of the scene. Hues and shapes are intensified through the use of shadows and light. Cityscapes, landscapes, portraits and abstracts, are all subject to a more dramatic interpretation.

Glenn Cook is a photographer, writer and editor whose work has been featured in local, regional, and national publications. His interest in making art from the ordinary, mundane aspects of life started as a tribute to his late father, a visual artist who died in 2007. Today, he works as a photographer for the Metropolitan School of the Arts, shoots portraits, freelance events and conferences, blogs on his website (http://glenncook.virb.com), and is a contributing editor/writer to numerous association and university publications.
Bald Eagles by Linda Carlson