Glass perfume bottle by Loy Allen accented with a dragonfly. (Photo from www.river-gallery.com)River Gallery is opening 2019 with a two-month exhibit by a trio of artists.
Loy Allen, Mari Kuroda and Lynn Whipple are the featured artists for January and February at the gallery, 400 E. Second St. They will be honored with an opening reception on Friday, Jan. 4, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the gallery.
Allen is a South Dakota native who returned to the Black Hills after studying design at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. After learning basic lampworking in South Dakota, she studied advanced glass techniques at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and at The Studio at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. She has been self-employed as a flameworker since 1979.
Allen says she draws inspiration “from the natural world, the hills and plains of Dakota. Stylistically, I am inspired by the art of the Art Nouveau age. My natural forms are meant to be expressive without being strictly realistic.”
Potter Mari Kuroda’s ceramics depict a blend of Japanese and American cultures.