Cousen Rose’s big season wind up

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James Denmark's collage, "Private Stroll." — Photo by Susan Safford

Against a quieter backdrop, the Island art community has summoned its creative energies to make the start of September a memorable time for gallery goers.

Zita Cousens, owner of Cousen Rose Gallery on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs, offers an impressive display of Island-inspired art by some of the gallery’s most popular artists to wind up her 2010 season.

Artist Glenn Tunstull describes his style of oil painting as, “dashilism,” related to pointillism, but with larger strokes. His Vineyard scenes feature sea and landscapes, and pastoral scenes.

Mr. Tunstull, a former fashion illustrator, taught fashion art at the Fashion Institute of Technology and at his alma mater, Parson’s School of Design.

Florida native James Denmark worked as an art teacher in Brooklyn, New York, and earned his Master of Fine Arts Degree at Pratt Institute of Fine Arts in New York. He works primarily in collage, using handcolored papers, fabric, and objects. His work often includes dancing African natives, musicians, and people in festive celebration.

Digital photographer Debra Gaines, a graduate of a three-year-program in digital photography at Rhode Island School of Design, captures Island scenes as well as those moments that express something essential about the Vineyard. She recently completed a series of lightning flashes across the Vineyard sky.

Lori Austill from Portland, Maine works in encaustics — mixing colors into beeswax which is placed on a hot tray then applied with brushes creating Vineyard Scenes.

The newest artist to the Cousen Rose Gallery is longtime painter Mark Zeender, who created a collection of impressionistic oil paintings that capture atmospheric sunrises, sunset, and moonscapes.

In contrast, Donna Straw’s acrylic on canvas produces hard-edge, detailed paintings of the Island’s charming Victorian houses.

John Breckenridge has created a collection of black and white limited edition archival photographs of a variety of Island scenes.

Dr. Steve London, an avid fisherman, working with special Japanese papers, creates Gyotaku — impressions of fish — by pressing and manipulating the papers onto the actual fish, which captures the texture and details the fins and scales of various fish.

The show runs through Tivoli Day, Saturday, September 18, when Cousen Rose Gallery will close until next summer.

Cousen Rose Gallery, 71 Circuit Avenue, Oak Bluffs. 508-693-6656.