Local artist opens exhibit


PINE PLAINS — Tilly Strauss believes art is not just a form of expression, but also a language.

"When I was a child my father was in the Army, so my family traveled to Malaysia, Haiti and the Caribbean," Strauss said. "Through drawing and painting, I was able to communicate with children who didn’t speak English. I found art to be a great universal language that reaches across barriers."

Strauss, a North East resident, has a series of paintings displayed at the Mountain Cow Café at 2987 East Church St. in Pine Plains.

She said traveling has inspired her paintings and she incorporates elements such as suitcases into her work.

"I’ve created sewn paper paintings, which gives the art a little more depth," she said. "There are a lot of hinted images and I try to make artwork that you can look at for a very long time. My paintings are either about being at home or about being away."

She has two Web sites at www.tillystudio.com and an artist’s blog at www.tillystudio.com/blogspot/, where she posts a painting a day.

"I have to paint every day, I just have to," she said. "It keeps me in balance. I just cannot imagine not painting."

Strauss’s studio and the exhibition at the Mountain Cow are both part of the first annual Artober Artists Open Studio Tour, sponsored by ArtEast of the Dutchess County Arts Council.

The event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 13, and Sunday, Oct.14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at various art studios including Strauss’s, Jon de Preter’s sculpture studio in Pine Plains and Sarah Blodgett’s photography studio in Millerton.

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