Behind the blue door

Evelyn C. McDonald

Arts & Culture Reporter

May 12, 2016 1:00 a.m.

I’d been promising myself a visit to Blue Door Artists. I stopped there this afternoon and spent a delightful half hour talking with Jane Hedgecock, one of the nine artists who share this space. It is a working space so in addition to seeing art displayed, you can often find the artists at work on projects. It’s a cooperative gallery so each artist takes a turn at being the official greeter, answering questions, and guiding you around the gallery.

There is quite a range of styles and media in the gallery. Casey Matthews has a number of abstract pieces. Cori Beychok does jewelry design. Suzanne Batchelor does representational art. However, the artists don’t always limit themselves to a particular style. In any particular artist’s room, you may see self-portraits, boats on a beach, or abstract floral designs. Each artist has a distinct voice. Theresa Daily, Sharon Badenoch, Sharon Haffey, Elizabeth Dion, and Georganna Mullis fill the gallery space with their works.

I was fortunate enough to show up on a day when there were a number of pieces done in a different media than I’d ever seen. These were done with alcohol ink. No, stop thinking about Stoli. This is a fast drying ink consisting of color added to a solution that’s mostly alcohol. You put a drop on a surface – canvas, tile, etc., and spread it. You have to work quickly as it dries fast so it is difficult to use a brush. Some artists use q-tips or other such tools to fashion the ink into their design.

The results are often more abstract or impressionist in appearance. The colors are vibrant and lend themselves well to floral designs. Several of the artists at Blue Door are working with alcohol inks. Some had done pieces that looked like fields of flowers; others had more abstract designs. Jane does baskets and has used the inks to bring color into her basket designs.

She told me that the Island Art Association has offered classes in the techniques of working with alcohol inks. It appealed to me as someone who doesn’t draw well. I thought it might be a way to do designs where I wouldn’t be able to tell what I meant hence wouldn’t be disappointed in the results.

I recommend a visit to Blue Door at 205-1/2 Centre Street. Stop for a moment before going in and look at the stairs. Each riser is painted with a different design – cats, turtles, alligators. Next door is Amelia Island Coffee and Ice Cream. So you can reward yourself for climbing the stairs with coffee or an ice cream.

Evelyn McDonald moved to Fernandina Beach from the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. in 2006. She is a chair of Arts & Culture Nassau, a city commission charged with support of the arts in Nassau County. She serves on FSCJ's Curriculum Committee for the Center for Lifelong Learning. She is also the chair of the Dean’s Council for the Carpenter Library at the UNF. Ms. McDonald has MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland’s University College and a BA in Spanish from the University of Michigan.