Lower Township Library Features Local Artists in Oct.

VILLAS — The Lower Township Library, 2600 Bayshore Rd., will feature the work of local artists Diana Cutshall and Patricia Neville during the month of Oct.
Diana Cutshall is a potter and self-taught jewelry artist. She studied pottery under renowned redware potter, William Daley, at the Philadelphia College of Art, and later co-owned the Clay Co-Op, a studio and gallery in Lambertville, NJ. She was a juried member of the Bucks County Guild of Craftsmen and Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen, and now lives and works in Cape May, NJ. To Diana, clay and beadwork link people across all cultures and throughout all ages. They date back to the beginning of time, telling stories of human need and desire, shedding light on each culture and its search for beauty. On a hilltop in Greece, for example, archeologists recently found 100,000 year-old beads and terra cotta figurines of people and animals they revered. Diana dreams that her work will become part of this ongoing human chain.
“I have always been inspired by works of the past,” says Diana, “and you can see their influences in the terracotta pottery and jewelry I produce today. Like the ancient Greeks, I love making representations of what we have in our world. I want my pottery pieces to be timeless little nuggets of what is important to me — lizards, frogs and butterflies, cats and dogs, sometimes even cars. I also love the idea of personal adornment. It is interesting that, in ancient times, some people were buried with their jewelry, and I would love to make a piece that is so special to someone, they would want it with them for all eternity. I strive to create beaded art jewelry that is valued more for its design and creativity than for its material worth.”
Patricia Neville is a native of Cape May County and studied art at York Academy of Arts and received her BFA in Art Education at Rowan University. She continues to take art workshops both locally and internationally. She has been a high school art teacher for sixteen years and has been an active member of several local artist groups including the Cape May County Art League, the Riverfront Renaissance Center of the Arts, New Jersey chapter of the American Artists Professional League and The Saint Barnabas Group. Her current series of oil paintings depict still-lifes reflecting her experience of nature based on the everyday findings along the beach and the bay.
“My recent series of work embody the natural world focusing on my love of nature and my surroundings. As a native of South Jersey I have always been enamored with the surf, sand and beauty that is unique to Southern Jersey. I tend to focus on connections between textures, patterns and light found in nature. My paintings represent these natural occurrences which evoke emotions through the use of intensified color and light.”
The Lower Township Library is a branch of the Cape May County Library system. Located at 2600 Bayshore Rd. in the Villas section of the Township, the library is open Mon., Wed. and Thurs. from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Tues. and Fri. from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sat. from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For information, call 609-886-8999.