The "RIPE Circus"

We opened our Eighth Annual Valentine's Day group show on February 14, 2014, to a resounding response from our local artists and collectors! This year's theme "A RIPE Circus" was a really fun theme that excited both our contributing artists, and fans of RIPE Art Gallery.

This year's show drew in 87! pieces of work from 51 different artists. Of note, we had work from New Orleans artist Sherry Dooley, local fan favorites Kate Kelly, Holly Gordon, Doug Reina, William Brick Hawkins, STANKO, Luke DeLalio, David Graham, Linda Louis, Pheos, Sylvia Harnick, and Anu Annam. We even got work in the mail from Anthony Zummo (from Halifax, Nova Scotia)and Ralph Turturro (Cortland, NY).

We gave everyone a great show with clowns....

Stiltwalkers....

And a fabulous, sexy little Hoopdancer!

The press also gave us some great love! Newsday featured some of our RIPEanista's in their "What They're Wearing" Column.

The Long Islander featured a story about the show...."As Valentines Day approaches, it's time for you to decide whether you're more afraid of clowns or of being alone."

And a really nice article appeared in the Northport Daily News... Here's the Link... Thanks to All who made this such a success!!! We're having a Closing Reception this Saturday March 8th, 2014 from 5-7pm!

"Fallon X 2" Now Showing in the Gallery

("Pagliacci" Oil on canvas, by Jody Fallon, "Taming the Tempest" Photograph, by Cheryl Fallon) We are so pleased to welcome Jody and Cheryl Fallon this month to RIPE Art Gallery!! They are a husband and wife team from Central PA, and a whole hell of a lot of talent....

Known for his haunting figurative work and expressive landscapes, Jody Fallon is a self taught contemporary artist, proficient in oil, watercolor, pastel, pencil and most recently, sculpture. A native of central Pennsylvania, Jody grew up exploring the dark fields, hills and mountains near his childhood home. After joining the Marine Corp., he was introduced to painting by three artists who he had come to know and admire; Frank Frazetta, Paul Lehr and Ron Wing. Here's one of our favorite pieces....

"Entangled". By Jody Fallon.

Jody with Artist Stanko in front of "Echinacea" at the opening reception.

Cheryl Fallon is a photographic artist based in central Pennsylvania creating self­portraiture and dreamscapes. Her most recent images, inspired by the genres of fantasy and surrealism, are created as composites of several photographs allowing her the ability to create the slightly unreal scenes. Cheryl’s work has been described as dreamlike with a feeling of timelessness, just a touch of darkness and a dash of whimsy. Her work centers on creating story­like images based on the themes of our common stories of struggle, loneliness, heartache, desire, passion, grief and fear.

One of my favorites by Cheryl...."Just Might Soar".

"The Survivor", Cheryl Fallon.

Cheryl sitting in our new gallery space at Rexer's Crossroads Farm, 1028 Park Avenue, Huntington. This is a wonderful show by two people I'm proud to call my friends. Showing through November 16, 2013. But stay tuned, there just might be a Closing Reception on Nov. 16th....

RIPE's Big Move!!

I know!!! How exciting!!!! We've been here at 67a Broadway, in Greenlawn for 7! Years!! And you haven't gotten rid of us yet! So we're moving the frameshop into this adorable little building on the side of the road in Huntington. Well, 1028 Park Avenue to be exact....

We've got a new "partner" who is helping us make this all happen....We'll just call him The Pimp. So we kinda get free run on the rest of the property around the building. So we've renovated our little cottage, (which has notorious roots as a chicken slaughter house), on Rexer's Crossroads Farm. Our frame shop is gonna be much more open, same great selection, same great workman...er, workwomanship, with our usual fun shopping opportunities in the front room of the shop. Then right next door...

The Pimp is building us a HUGE new gallery space! The picture is showing you where we are right now with construction of the barn. I told him that all I need is sheetrock and I can start showing art in this barn. But we're gonna get paint, and a cool floor, and a lot more than that!! So, keep posted. We're moving outta here (67a) tomorrow! We'll be open on August 6th!

The Long Awaited Houseboat Update

The Sweet SS Charisma. The First thing that we did, and I'll add, it was quite awhile ago... Was deal with the back wall. This is what it looked like.

And a view of the back deck before.

So my band of pirates ripped out the rotten back wall, the windows, and ripped off the top of the back deck. Here's what we ended up with.

We had to put planks on the bottom of the deck for now. But we got a cool cockpit out back now. Of course all this work opened up a few cans of worms. The next issue was the galley. Here's a picture of the nice little kitchen as it was...before.....sigh.......

The whole wall behind it was rotting so.....

And!....After......Much better, right?.... But it had to happen. We saved all the original fronts, and doors of the cabinets. We kept the stove, the sink, and the countertop, for now. . She needs some re-fiberglassing to stop leaks, and, well,....a lot of love and care.

Here's a final shot for those out there who doubt Charisma's float-ability. During the 2011 Hurricane, she floated at high tide!...

Art Update

Well, since we've been gone for so long, here's what we were busy doing in the gallery.

We invited our "old" college buddy, Jon Dunitz, down from Maine with his show "Forgotten Transport". We LOVE shows that center around cars. Who doesn't like a car?!?

We also opened up our "Backdoor" Gallery to one of our favorite sicko artists, David Graham. His "Celebrity Deathmask" collection really strikes our sicko funnybone!

Then we introduced everyone to Mark Bobley. His marker on paper drawings of weird dreamlike scenes, usually involving robots, pimps, monsters, and shamanistic symbolism are like a hallucination mapped out.

October was an interesting month with Joe Giaquinto's visit. He brought his collection of "Spirit" photographs, and his clair-audient abilities to the gallery. It was kind of creepy...

Our Annual Valentine's Day show was a hit once again. The room was packed and we had work from about 50 artists. It was great to meet some new people!

We finally got to meet ZIG. He was awesome! Love his smart, witty work, and a super fun dance party broke out!

STANKO returned for an April Fool's Day show. Super amazing show! And for his April Fool's present from the Ripe Girls, we had a bagpiper and drummer come and play some ear-drum splitting tunes for him!

Luke DeLalio graced our walls with a border-line insane show of paintings, drawings and photography. A lot of lines were crossed, buttons pushed, and thoughts were provoked.

And last but not least, we had a visit from Doris Rowe. The Grand Dame of the local art scene brought us a new collection of "Retablos". What a fun show! So, there you have it. A quick rundown of this past year's events.

And...We're back!

Well, well, well....It's been a while! Lots of things have been going on with the Rockstar Framer. Lots of work, lots of art and new artists, a new gallery wall color, some really fab parties, broken hearts and broken art sales records, and the usual mix of fun and insanity. We also kicked down with some cash to re-do our website. Thus, the inspiration to return to our rockstar blog.

Glitter makes everything better!

New shoes....unbelievable buy...equals= LOVE!
These shoes have been on display since they walked into my life Sunday morning...sigh!


That's right......I mean, isn't everything better in a glitter color?
These shoes are not made for walking, anywhere...but they are an amazing sight to behold.
Well, I guess I can walk in them for a short distance...