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Basciani showed a serious interest in art when he was very young. His father, Richard, had shown artistic ability when he was in his youth and had wanted to be an artist. Instead, he entered into the family business as expected. Richard’s son, however, was strongly encouraged by both his parents to pursue his talent.

Having grown up surrounded by art and culture, Victoria Kraut, Basciani’s mother, naturally began taking her younger son to the Delaware Art Museum when he was in 1^st grade. Basciani loved to draw, so when he was only eight years old and at his mother’s urging, the budding artist enrolled at summer art classes at the Delaware Art Museum. That fall, he continued his passion by taking art classes at the Center for Creative Arts in Yorklyn, Delaware.

At the age of 12, Basciani began an apprenticeship with his father’s good friend and a well-known artist named William O. Ewing III. Ewing quickly became Basciani’s mentor. To this day, Basciani frequently goes to the West Chester, Pennsylvania studio of his former mentor merely to paint alongside him.

Basciani was awarded the Kennett Education Art Award in 1998. That same year he was accepted into the prestigious four-year Certificate program of Philadelphia’s Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the oldest and most renowned art school in the United States.

After earning his Certificate of Fine Arts, Basciani set up his studio in a historic barn in nearby Chadds Ford.  It is there where he does most of his work, which is diverse in subject matter, including portraits, landscapes of Pennsylvania and Maine, and still lifes of mushrooms and other objects with equally strong personal associations.

While Basciani resides in Chadds Ford, he paints wherever he is — during trips to Europe and Japan, during visits to Florida and to Maine, even during a performance of The Nutcracker. His work has been on exhibit at the Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery in downtown West Chester, and has also been exhibited in select shows and galleries in the Brandywine Valley.

EDUCATION

1992-2004 Apprenticeship with  artist William O. Ewing, Unionville, Pennsylvania

May, 2003     The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, Pa.
Earned Certificate of Fine Arts (double major in Painting)

RELATED EXPERIENCE

2008/ 2009     Chadds Ford Historical Society’s Plein Air in the Brandywine Valley

2008               Member, Philadelphia Sketch Club

2004-Present  Assistant instructor for art classes given by former mentor, William O. Ewing

EXHIBITIONS

Philadelphia, Pa., Newman Galleries, The Philadelphia Sketch Club 2008 Members Exhibition, June-July, 2008

West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Act I (first one-man show), October 5-November 2, 2007

West Chester, Pa., Chester County Arts Association, Growing the Arts Benefit Auction, 2006

West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Sixth Annual Miniature Show, November 23-December 24, 2005

West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Showdown: A Mentor and His Apprentice: The Work of William Ewing and William Basciani, October 14-November 14, 2005

Chadds Ford, Pa., The Brandywine River Museum, The Young Friends of the Brandywine All Hallow’s Eve Ball, October 22, 2005. Designed and painted murals on canvas used as backdrops for the dance.

Chadds Ford, Pa., The Brandywine Valley Hemophilia Foundation Spring Dinner Dance Benefit Auction, May 7, 2004

West Chester, Pa., Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery, Fifth Annual Miniature Show, November 23-December 24, 2004

Philadelphia, Pa., The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Annual Student Exhibition, spring, 2003 (exhibited 10 oil paintings)

Yorklynn, Delaware, Center for the Creative Arts, Annual Regional Fine Arts Exhibition, May, 2003

Chadds Ford, Pa., The Brandywine Valley Hemophilia Foundation Spring Dinner Dance Benefit Auction, May 7, 2003

Philadelphia, Pa., The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Annual Student Exhibition, spring, 2002 (exhibited 10 oil paintings)

Chadds Ford, Pa., The Brandywine Valley Hemophilia Foundation Spring Dinner Dance Benefit Auction, May 7, 2000

I look for extraordinary color combinations, patterns and shapes created by sunlight on the simple subject and in shadows and reflections. My love of gardening strengthens and energizes my paintings. There are many nuances of light, shade and texture within a single shape and choosing to work larger than life provides me an opportunity to show where these unexpected color forms can be found.

Overall, I am excited by the journey from (photo) reference to painting and in bringing watercolor’s grace to the finished work of art. I ask the viewer to look again, to linger a moment, and to explore the different colors and patterns that are deep inside the shadows and reflections of my work.

All of Linda’s paintings are original watercolors using the finest pigments on 100% rag Bristol board. Each flower is depicted in creative and lyrical compositions while remaining true and botanically correct. Many of these flowers are native to this area of Pennsylvania and the Appalachian Mountain region. Some of the species are endangered or quite rare. All wildflowers are in trust to us and should never be picked or taken from their natural habitat unless they are in danger of destruction.

Linda currently resides in Lititz, Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. Her paintings have been displayed in local galleries and art shows, as well as in private collections in the United States and abroad.

Terri grew up in Oregon amidst mountain views, rivers of every size, and fertile farmland.  After college she settled in Portland working as a university Assistant Director of Human Resources.  Moving to Charlotte, NC gave her a chance to change directions.   She began to explore her love of drawing and learned the pleasures and frustrations of gardening.   Today Terri, and her happily retired husband, lives in West Chester with two fluffy white Samoyeds, a studio and a very large garden.

Years of hiking in the mountains and rafting through incredible canyons are joined by recent opportunities to travel to wonderful places and meet people with timeless stories to provide a lifetime of memories to draw upon for inspiration. Organic shapes and endless color variations inspire her to share the beauty she sees.

Terri is a member of several watercolor societies and a signature member of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society and Baltimore Watercolor Society.   Recent group exhibits include the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society’s International Juried Exhibition, Baltimore Watercolor Society’s Mid- Atlantic Regional Exhibition, Rittenhouse Square Fine Art Annual, and the Immaculata Annual Art show.   Her paintings have been accepted to numerous juried shows and are found in private collections throughout the country.

Sunset Hill Fine Arts Gallery Presents

Linda Wohlberg

Margaret Smith

Terri Morse

Friday May 6th through May 26th

Running November 18th through Christmas.

Featuring over 20 artists!

• William Basciani
• Christopher Chadwick
• Jean Cheeseman
• Mark Cole
• Larry Denver
• Harry Dunn
• William Ewing
• Janis Galbraith-Fitch
• Dennis Haggerty
• Charles Jay
• Jack Kaiser
• Kelly McConnell-Cox
• Pete Quarracino
• Jeff Schaller
• Don Schoffner
• Larry Slavick
• Vaughn Stadmiller
• Dave Tomaino
• Ed Vandernoot
• Ellen Vandernoot
• Jim Vandernoot
• Maryanne Weselyk
• Kyle Whary
• Marie Jones Wolfington

• William Basciani
• Robert Bohne
• Christopher Chadwick
• Jean Cheeseman
• Mark Cole
• Kelly McConnell-Cox
• John Cox
• Lisa Daly
• Harry Dunn
• Janis Galbraith-Fitch
• Dennis Haggerty
• Marie Wolfington-Jones
• Adrian Martinez
• Pete Quarracino
• Cheryl Decker-Sauder
• Jeff Shaller
• Larry Slavick
• Vaughn Stadmiller
• Ellen Vandernoot
• Ed Vandernoot
• Mary Ann Weslyk

Local and non-local; all original artwork.

No holiday season is complete without Sunset Hill’s Miniature show on your list!

Adrian was born in Philadelphia on September 12, 1949. When he was five, his family moved to Washington D.C. where he completed his early schooling. Adrian grew up in poverty and found refuge in the museums of the Smithsonian Institute. There he was safe, and free to develop his growing love of art and history. After high school, he made the decision to study painting at the Maryland Institute of Art in Baltimore, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.  He was then accepted into St. Martins School of Art in London where he obtained a Certificate of Studies. This was not without some degree of difficulty due to his abrupt change from an advanced student of abstract art to a painfully tentative student of realism. His time spent traveling and studying art in Europe brought about a change that set in motion the growth of his full potential as an artist, while at the same time throwing him completely out of the mainstream and separating him from most of his contemporaries. He became committed to realistic painting in the Western European tradition. Struggling with this new style, he realized he was not finished with his education and pursued a Master of Arts degree in painting and printmaking from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

After graduating from Purdue, Adrian taught art for a few years and eventually accepted a job as the exhibit designer for the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. Adrian designed installations for some of the greatest Renaissance, Impressionist and Asian art in the world. He met many of the leading art scholars of the day. In 1984 he left his job at the Kimbell and devoted himself to painting full time.

Shortly after beginning his career as an artist he met his wife, Leah, who was born and raised in Texas. They have a son, Sebastian, who is also a native Texan. However, in 1995 the Martinez family left Fort Worth and moved to Chester County, Pennsylvania. They currently live in a beautiful Victorian home that also houses Adrian’s studio.

Adrian currently has paintings with the Allan Stone Gallery in New York, Newman Galleries in Philadelphia, Somerville-Manning Gallery in Delaware and Ken Blasingame in Texas. He has given a number of lectures and demonstrations and taught art at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, Purdue University in Indiana, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Amon Carter Museum in Texas.

Dennis continually studies the American Southwest and paints highly expressive renderings of the Western skies.  His sunsets capture the spell bounding quality of light over mountain ranges.  These semi abstract paintings of “skyscapes” often feature blazing dusk or dusk ruddy sky colors.  His background in philosophy has also influenced his work. With each stroke, intensity develops into bold emotions.  He currently works in his West Chester studio and works in oil and watercolors.