Meet the artists at Wings ‘N Water

Colly Kelly’s Bleach Batik denim has been a “must-see and must-buy” at the Wings n’ Water Festival for over 25 years.
Her dedicated patrons, along with new customers, find it difficult not to buy her creatively designed wearable art.
Colly is a self-taught artist working in her home studio in West Chester, Pa. Every Bleach Batik denim design is unique and customized.
After 40 years of business, she still enjoys creating new designs, including waterfowl and wetlands scenes.
Colly’s Bleach Batiks are sold in boutiques across the United States and internationally. So don’t miss Colly’s Bleach Batik denim at the Wetland’s Institute Tent.
There’s something special about Joyce Gagen’s Herons. Her soft watercolors capture this unique and elusive bird effectively.
Her Herons depicted in many different poses are elegant and sensitive. Gagen’s work ranges widely from wildlife and water scenes, all with detail and realism that evokes a love of nature and its many characters.
Her swans, egrets, sandpipers and geese are shown in quiet water and wetlands. Nautical artworks portray sailboats sunsets and scenic waterways.
A C/A graduate from the Philadelphia College of Art, is well known on the East Coast and has shown her works at many of the nation’s juried art festivals, including Easton Waterfowl Festival, Easton Md. She has traveled from coast to coast gathering images of subjects for her artwork.
The most recent accomplishment for her was the 2008 White House Christmas ornament representing New Jersey’s 3rd district.
The result is 25-year career filled with awards from around the country and thousands of collector’s, including governors, congressmen and presidents.
Her studio is located at 6 Cragmoor Dr. Shamong N.J. 08088. Web site: www.joycegagen.com & email is joycegagen@aol.com.
Doris Zogas, a former elementary teacher, and her husband, have been vacationing at the South Jersey coast since their three children were infants.
The South Jersey coast, from the ocean to the wetlands, provides the setting for her to paint her whimsical, nostalgic watercolors of the area.
Although she always enjoyed sketching and all forms of art activities, her introduction to watercolor came when she took a painting workshop while vacationing in Stone Harbor in the early 1980s.
She since has taken many workshops with nationally recognized painters, and is a member of Berks Art Alliance and a juried member of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society.
The many moods of the sea and the shoreline and the changing seasons create an endless source of inspiration.
She has captured many of the buildings and landmarks that no longer exist and preserved memories for future generations with her series of limited edition prints.
Although much of her work is concentrated in Stone Harbor and Avalon, she has painted in shore communities from Ocean City to Cape May.
Her work has been exhibited in many juried shows and has been used in local publications and reproduced as note cards.
She has also published a series of Christmas cards for Avalon and Stone Harbor that are eagerly awaited each year by many people.
Her new Stone Harbor print—Beach Umbrellas—is now available.
Al Dornisch is a self-taught painter and naturalist having spent the past 67 or 68 years developing his art and studying the world’s wild creatures and the out-of-doors. He and his wife, Carol, lived in Minnesota for 36 years where he fell under the tutelage of Les Kouba – a world-renowned wildlife painter – who encouraged and helped him with his early painting efforts.
It was during the years when wildlife art began to flourish, encouraged greatly by the “Minnesota School” of wildlife artists along with certain publishers and catalog galleries.
His paintings are highly detailed images of subjects that may include wildlife of any kind. They can be found in collections throughout the United States and elsewhere.
He is at ease painting elephants or butterflies, rattlesnakes or gold finches. His work has been accepted in many prestigious exhibits, shows and sales throughout the United States and Canada.
Dornish is a previous winner of the waterfowl stamp and print competition in South Carolina along with other conservation stamps in Minnesota and Maryland. He won the competition, which decided the painting to be used for the poster and publicity for Wings and Water Art Show in 2005 and 06.
He has contributed much of his work to conservation organizations and other groups, which have benefited financially from its sale.
Contact: 428 Lookout Ave., Ridgway, PA 15853, 814-772 5333; Cell 814-389 9155; Email: bigowl@windstream.net.
Allyson Hurley, an award winning nature photographer, thrives on the double life she leads.
She enjoys her busy restorative-cosmetic dental practice in Chatham, and recharges her batteries while photographing nature.
Hurley’s passion for photography is revealed through the use of color and light in her photographs. Her wild life photographs show how she is able to capture the moment.
She is noted for revealing the personality of the animal that she is photographing. Her photography is featured in corporations and private homes both in the United States and in Europe.
Hurley’s photography has taught her so much about the precious balance that is shared between man and wildlife. She is active in several nature organizations.
Allyson K. Hurley ,585 Main St., Chatham, New Jersey 07928
973 635-0698 or 888-khurley
www.allysonhurley.com