June 23, 2006
For Immediate Release

CLAY,CLOTH, AND COLOR Exhibit opening Sunday, June 23 at the Slater Mill Gallery

CLAY,CLOTH, AND COLOR, an exhibition of expressive designs in quilts by Patricia Arrow and ceramics and paintings Susan Shaw opens at the SLATER MILL GALLERY, 175 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI on June 25th, 3:00-6:00 PM with entertainment and refreshments, and runs from June 25 thru August 25, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 AM-3 PM. Slater Mill is proud to present these two well respected Rhode Island artists.

Patricia Arrow is a fiber artist who makes quilts. She is primarily known for her colorful and witty children's quilts that have been exhibited in many parts of the country. She hand dyes her own fabric and creates her original designs using squares and triangles. Leaping frogs, alligators, snakes, fried eggs, and green olives are a small sampling of her quilt's imagery.

Recently she has gotten more involved with dying the fabric for her work. Discovering that she wanted to dispense with images for a time, and simply combine squares of color using the subtle variations of shading that occurs during the dying process. The quilts currently on display at the Slater Mill Gallery in Pawtucket (for the months of July and August) are the result of this exploration.

Susan Shaw is both a painter and ceramic artist. Her functional porcelain vessels display a fluid rhythm of movement and color; her watercolors convey a spectrum of color and design often found in nature, using traditional Asian and contemporary painting techniques and materials.

Porcelain clay is a her chosen material for ceramics, desired for its luminosity and depth, its truthful surface. She claims it reflects every touch of the creator's hand. The medium is so responsive, subtle and seductive that she never gets bored; she is challenged by trying to infuse the vessel with the action of making - through texture, alterations or manipulations of the clay, giving a sense of the movement of clay, and its fluid nature.

Her love of her natural surroundings, full of energy the Chinese call "chi" drew her to study Traditional Chinese Painting; she has been studying this Asian approach to painting with Bettie Sarantos of Newport, RI for many years. Shaw has combined her study of Western painting and Asian painting in many of the works on display at the Slater Mill Gallery.

Slater Mill is a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserve the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution, promote the arts and culture and provide enjoyable educational opportunities for all ages. Slater Mill is open daily from May through November. Slater Mill Gallery is located directly across the street from the historic site at 175 Main St., Pawtucket. For more information please call (401) 725-8638.

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About the Chamber

The Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce serves the Blackstone River Valley's eleven member towns in Massachusetts: Blackstone, Douglas, Grafton, Hopedale, Mendon, Millbury, Millville, Northbridge, Sutton, Upton, and Uxbridge. The mission of the chamber is to promote the economic vitality of the Blackstone Valley, meet the needs of the Chamber's business members, while providing leadership on issues which impact the economy and quality of life in the Valley.