Join us at First Thursday, December 3 to meet the featured artists Carol Boudreau, Fran Reisner, Jane Gerdon, and view the Gingerbread Haus Display.
Mingle with fellow art lovers in historic downtown Longview. Live acoustic guitar music provided by local musicians. Featured artists artwork is on display all month.
Joe Green
Joe Green will be playing during our First Thursday, December 3. He provides a wide array of talent using many instruments and vocals. Come enjoy the ambiance of the featured artists accompanied by Mr Green’s musical performance.
About the Artists
Carol Boudreau- Painter
It is 
my hope that my art captures the spirit of a scene as well as the image, enabling viewers to have an emotional recall of something similar they may once have experienced. I want my paintings to become the embodiment of a pleasant memory that can be lived over and over again.
My love for Pacific Northwest landscapes comes naturally. The beauty of this area has compelled me to express myself through art. Painting allows me to focus on and celebrate the things in life that I find good and meaningful and share them with my viewers. Nature, animals, and people are what inspire me to paint. The qualities of luminosity and high color intensity make watercolors especially exciting for me to use. It is my hope that my art captures the spirit of a scene as well as the image, enabling viewers to have an emotional recall of something similar they may once have experienced. I want my paintings to become the embodiment of a pleasant memory that can be lived over and over again.
This Broadway Gallery December 2015 show is a collection of many of my recent paintings, the subjects of which are some of my favorites!
Sheep Trio 2
Coldwater Lake
Early June Afternoon
Fran Reisner-Photography
Fran Reisner, an international award winning photographer, has a passion for capturing the beauty of this world in her images. After earning her BA degree in Commercial Photography from Brooks Institute located in Santa Barbara California in 1985, Fran operated a successful photography business in the San Francisco Bay area for a number of years. When life took her to Texas in 1997, she re-established herself in what would become a highly acclaimed portrait/wedding studio in the Dallas area. There she is best known for the innovative style of her imagery, bringing out a sense of warmth and sensitivity in her portraits, creating storytelling images… always delightful to the eye, as well as the heart and soul. [Fran’s Portraits]
As a means of staying true to her art, Fran nurtures her passion with a periodic “journey of discovery”. In the fall of 2006 her journey led her to Italy, where she captured the grace and beauty of this country in evocative studies of light and shadow. A number of these images can be found in her first book, A Personal Renaissance, a limited edition, self published coffee table book. Her second book, The Dogs of Central Park, published by Rizzoli Universe, was released in the spring of 2011 to rave reviews. Fran dedicated this book to “all those who give so selflessly of their time and efforts on behalf of the millions of helpless animals around the globe,” and donates part of the proceeds from every book purchased directly through her to animal rescue organizations.
Fran’s journeys have taken her to many foreign places, but recently she has been wandering closer to home. Home being all over the US. With a few precise destinations in mind she meanders from one to the next with her dogs, Jazzy and Sadie, discovering and photographing the amazing diversity and beauty of our country. While traveling she is working on more books in her dog series, including The Mountain Dogs of Colorado.
Fran has been honored with her Photographic Master and Craftsman degrees, has won numerous national and international awards for her work, has been awarded three times as Dallas Photographer of the Year, and was chosen by Canon as one of their elite “Explorers of Light”. She is an international speaker, has been published in more than 30 books and magazines and has been featured on both Good Day Dallas and Good Morning Texas.
Jane Gerdon – Fiber Artist
“Anyone can be creative. You just have to find your niche.”
I moved to the Kelso/Longview area in 1975 to teach Family and Consumer Science at Huntington Junior High. Before that, I was in Kent teaching. My Dad was career Navy so we spent some time traveling through the US while I was growing up.
My Mom was a very creative person, so that was something that I grew up doing. I learned how to knit from my Mom and crochet from a family friend. Although I had never done much with that knowledge until I took a felting class. I was hooked!
I don’t felt as much as I used to but I still enjoy the uniqueness of it. It has been a lot of fun working with different yarns, techniques, and embellishments to create something special. When felting, I never quite knew how a particular project
would turn out until it was finished. Some projects have been challenging while others have been fairly easy. I have broadened my scope to include hats, fingerless gloves and scarves.
My work has also been displayed at the BCJ Gallery in Morton, The Morgan Arts Centre in Toledo, and the ARTrails Gallery in Centralia.
Woven Fiber Scarf
Felted Purse
Finger-less Knitted Glove
Fiber Clutch
Finger-less Knitted Glove
Gingerbread Haus Display
The fun begins at noon on Saturday, December 5th. It’s a day event with people of all ages entering to win awards for their designs. Last year the contest drew more than two dozen awe-inspiring entries. Prizes will be awarded in nine different categories: youth age 8 and under, youth 9-12, youth 13-17, local landmarks, heartwarming houses, other gingerbread originals, professional, people’s choice youth and people’s choice adult. The judging will take place at 2p.m. The display will continue until 7pm.
Gail Wells, gingerbread artist extraordinaire, will judge the contest for the second time. Wells has been designing gingerbread houses for the last 20 years. She will be judging on detail, balanced proportions, consistency, and realistic/whimsical.
Below are some examples of last year’s entries and a couple winners. Come join the fun!
Dragon Haus
Wintry Haus
2014 Winner
2014 Winner