In times of anxiety and uncertainty about the future, it is essential to redirect our attention to the beauty, talent, and creativity found in the local community and its environment. While some of our travel plans may be disrupted, we are fortunate enough to have access to the natural splendor of neighboring woodlands and fields. Lebanon Picture Frame & Fine Art Gallery is therefore pleased to offer just such an experience of appreciation and celebration. Angela Lapioli and Jill Peckelun, two Hershey area abstract painters, will each be showing her own unique expression of nature rendered in oil and cold wax. In observance of the recent social distancing guidelines and to help curb the spread of COVID 19, the exhibition will be available to view via the Gallery’s Facebook Page beginning Friday, August 7 at 5 pm through Saturday, September 12, 2020. To view the works in person, the Gallery is open during its normal operating hours.
Angela Lapioli immediately embarked upon her career as an illustrator, graphic designer and art director after graduating with a BFA in Graphic Design from Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia. Her later work as a fine art painter, however, began only after Lapioli took an art class six years ago. Based outside of Hershey, PA, the artist utilizes her preferred medium of acrylics, along with oil and cold wax, to capture and interpret the local natural environment. Lapioli’s abstract interpretation of nature is often expressed in a dreamlike trance, characterized with muted, subtle layers of color and interspersed with strong, graphic lines. “I find inspiration from focused observations in our local natural environment that usually manifests itself in abstraction, and some more figurative works,” remarked the artist.
Some of Lapioli’s notable recent exhibitions have been “Art in the Atrium”, WITF Harrisburg, PA in 2018 and “Images 2019 Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts” at State College, PA.
Jill Peckelun, a full-time painter since 1999, has a deep connection to Lebanon County. She was raised on a farm here, which is still held by her family. Peckelun regards the farm as a third parent: “the woods and fields nurtured me as a child, sustained me as an adult, and are the source of much of my artwork.” The painter’s colorful body of work is largely informed by her personal experience, and even though she continues to find inspiration in the rural landscape, her subject matter has extended to urban landscapes and interior scenes. Peckelun’s work is characterized with an abundance of paint and broad, loose brushstrokes, as well as utilizing cold wax for its matte surface. “I always take some artistic license and end up painting a place I want to be,” remarked Peckelun regarding the scenes on her canvas, “the location is an inspiration, but the painting itself is the destination…so in its appeal to the viewer it takes you someplace you want to be, not necessarily a back access road in Palmdale, you know?”
Peckelun has exhibited with many juried exhibitions such as Art Association of Harrisburg and Historic Yellow Springs Art Show. She has placed first in many local competitions, such as the Camp Hill Plein Air, Kutztown and others. In March, Peckelun was featured in the Women in Art issue of American Art Collector.
Lebanon Picture Frame & Fine Art Gallery has been serving the regional artistic community since 1999. Aside from professional and quality archival custom framing, its gallery regularly features exhibitions of local artists, as well as unique handcrafted gift items such as jewelry, paintings, ceramics, sculptures, glass and more.
If you would like more information, please contact Lebanon Picture Frame at 717-279-7725 or email at info@LebanonPictureFrame.com.