Artist Linda Kellish designs “rhythm beads” for horses. Her art exhibit will be at the New Woodstock Free Library through May 31.
By Norm Parry
(New Woodstock, NY – May 2014) An exhibit of art by “avid horsewoman” Linda Kellish will be at the New Woodstock Free Library through May 31. The exhibit includes clayworks, jewelry for horses and strikingly original sculptures from natural settings.
A reception for the artist will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, May 9. The reception is free and open to the public.
The exhibit is open during all regular library hours.
Kellish is a graduate of Morrisville State College in horticulture and Cornell University in plant science/microbiology with a minor in landscape design. She lives on a farm that includes acres of undisturbed forest that serve as inspiration for many of her pieces.
Kellish says she has been involved with horses since she was a child. She breeds, raises and trains Morgan horses and has been involved in numerous equine disciplines, but her love is competitive trail and endurance riding. This type of riding, she says, involves races of up to 100 miles requiring a deep knowledge of your horse and his abilities, as well as a partnership gained with countless miles ridden.
The “rhythm beads” that Kellish makes, and features in the library exhibit, are an extension of a training aid used by endurance riders to hear and feel the cadence of their horse’s gait, with each one individually designed, often with handmade components.
Now she is expanding her work into human-sized jewelry and wire wrapping techniques for wearable art.
Kellish has owned a landscape design firm for 25 years. She considers landscaping as “sculpture on a really large basis.” She designed the ornamental gardens at Shadowfax Farm and the 15 foot waterfall at the former Creel Creek Wildlife Gallery.
Children’s story hour is held every Tuesday at 11 a.m. Family movie night is held the third Friday of every month. The movies begin at 7 p.m.
This year marks the library’s 75th anniversary of service to the greater New Woodstock area.
Norm Parry is library director for the New Woodstock Free Library. The library is open Monday through Friday from 1 to 5 p.m., Monday and Wednesday evenings 7 to 9 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The library also is open whenever the flags are flying out front. Children’s hour is every Tuesday at 11 a.m. Find and “like” the library on Facebook. For more information, visit midyork.org/newwoodstock or call (315) 662-3134.