Feb 27th, 2008 Contact: Ann Thompson For Immediate Release 603-640-6155

DONALD SAAF AND JULIA ZANES EXHIBIT AT SPHERIS

Donald Saaf and Julia Zanes, artists who live and work in Saxtons River, Vermont, open an exhibition of new paintings at Spheris Gallery in Hanover New Hampshire. The artists’ reception is Saturday evening, March 8th from 6-8 p.m. and the exhibition will run through April 16th.

Donald Saaf, a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, is a painter, sculptor, musician, and children’s book illustrator. Saaf’s lively compositions address an imaginative world where human life and the natural world have equal veracity, each richly imbued with meaning and parable. The detailed imagery in his compositions is well supported by his fine hand in painting and use of color. These contemporary fables are a marvelous mirror for everyday life, as they hint at the elusive secrets – and the potential for communion -- that lie just beneath the surface of our daily existence. Saaf has shown his work extensively in the Boston area and elsewhere in the United States. He has illustrated twelve children’s books and has been reviewed in the Boston Herald and Art New England.

Julia Zanes’ work is allegorical in theme and richly patterned. Each painting is a tapestry of color, pattern, and imagery, and each has a narrative open to interpretation by the viewer. Zanes works in layers, creating an intricate collage of gum print and digital photographs, papers and painted areas, and finishing with an almost transparent glaze. The luster of the final glaze adds to the otherworldly quality of Zanes’ poetic imagery. Julia holds a BFA from The Art Institute, Chicago and has been shown throughout New England, as well as in Canada, New Orleans, and Chicago. She teaches community classes regularly to adults and children through the Great River Arts in Bellows Falls, Vermont.

The Spheris Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday, 11:00 – 5:30 and by appointment. Please contact the gallery for further information. 603 – 640 – 6155, info@spherisgallery.com, www.spherisgallery.com