Tracy Van Buskirk and Karen Adamshack started hanging their art on the walls of Newtown Municipal Center on a recent Wednesday afternoon. They brought in print after print and canvas after canvas of their work inspired by their home: Newtown.

Van Buskirk and Adamshack met a few years ago through Newtown Bridle Lands Association and share a love for horses. This is reflected in both of their art, which is on view through the end of the month in the main corridor of the building at 3 Primrose Street. As Adamshack hung paintings of horses and hay bales out in fields, Van Buskirk hung a linoleum block print of a horse with a few friends. Though they share a love of horses, their art is very different stylistically.

Adamshack is a trained graphic designer. She explained she “recently discovered gel prints,” which she said she is really loving. She explained she has been doing art for 40 or 50 years, including oil painting, which is also on display.

Her daughter Ally, who was helping to hang the artwork, added that she did graphic design before computers were involved, “on the board.” Adamshack added, “[graphic design] lends itself to the gel prints incredibly well because everything is a print.”

Van Buskirk’s work is more graphic than Adamshack’s. Van Buskirk uses linoleum block printing to create her art, which creates a different feel, texture, and look on the canvas compared to Adamshack’s gel prints, which are more abstract in nature. Van Buskirk explained she had an old school friend reach out to her to whom Van Buskirk had been sending letters with cartoons drawn on them since the two were in elementary school. As Adamshack put it, “[art] is more a way of life, art is like horses.”

Van Buskirk’s prints have appeared around town, including the 2016 holiday cover of The Newtown Bee, at least two Newtown Arts Festival logos, shirts for C.H. Booth Library, and now on the walls of The Municipal Gallery.

Both artists were buzzing with excitement on September 4 as they fussed over which work would go where, and how they could create a cohesive look with their different styles.

Van Buskirk shared, “This is my first major art show, and I have been doing my art for a long time, and it’s a little scary to put your artwork out there in public to see how people react to it. But I’m way more excited than scared.”

Adamshack said, “I think this is an incredible venue, an incredible space, and we’re so lucky to be able to put our work in here.”

=====

Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.