Downstairs: Patricia Rosenblad exhibits her Natural Forms In Oil

Traditional Portraits and Landscapes Oil Paintings by Ralph Garafola

The Wathcung Arts Center is pleased to present a one man show by the fine oil painter Ralph Garafola. The show runs from June 1-30 and our gallery is open from 1-4pm Monday-Saturdays. The opening reception for this show is Sunday, June 6, 1999 from 1-4pm. The public is welcome to come, meet the artists, enjoy light refreshments and view the art.

Ralph Garafola is a fine artist widely recognized for his traditional oil paintings of portraits, landscapes and seascapes. Ralph has been painting all his life even as a child in Brooklyn, he exhibited his art. Through encouragement from teachers he was inspired to continue and become an artist. As a young adult, he studied at the Education Alliance for Artists in Lower Manhattan spending seven years at the Art Students League of New York as a student and then later as an assistant to Frank J. Reilly, instructor and Commissioner of Art for New York City.

Garafola’s portraits capture the personality and character of his subjects, while his landscapes and seascapes capture the intense colors of the moment. "All of my paintings are portraits. If my subject is a person, landscape, seascape or still life, my approach is to portray my subject in its natural environment." Ralph’s realistic approach captures nature at its finest with detail and clarity. He blends the colors creating a vibrancy that is exquisite in oils.

Garafola won the Grumbacher Gold Medallion Award, Best in Show in Somerset County, a Gold Medal from the Art Directors Club, an Award of Excellence at the Mountain Art Show and numerous other awards. He exhibits on a regular basis for the Somerset Art Association, Watchung Art Association, NJ Center for Visual Arts, Ridgewood Art Institute, Westfield Art Association, Mountain Art Show and Art in the Hills. His portrait of the American Revolutionary martyr, Mayor General Joseph Warren, hangs in the Warren Township’s new courthouse. He has recently completed a commissioned portrait of Charles McDowell, Sr. (former law professor at Washington and Lee University). He is presently working on a portrait of Mr. Frank Babbitt, airplane pilot/entrepreneur of Myrtle Beach.

Garafola has been a featured artist on the Homebuyers Shopping Channel on Cable TV and in the Star Ledger, Asbury park Press, Forbes Newspaper, Warren Business and Professional Newspaper, the Warren Historical Society Newsletter, Long Island Power and Sail Magazine e and many others.

The Watchung Arts Center is particularly pleased to have a local artist who is so well known come into our gallery and share his knowledge, talents and exposure with our members. Ralph is respected and appreciated by the community. Garafola’s studio is in his home in Warren, New Jersey. His work can be viewed on his web site at www.users.nac.net/rgarafola.