March-April 3/1 - 4/28, 2019
Meet the Artists
Opening Reception Saturday, March 9, 4 - 7pm
More than Meats the Eye
Amber Maurer Farran & George Maurer
Amber Harte Maurer Farran
Beauty and Loss
I grew up at my father’s butcher shop and living on my grandfather & uncle’s dairy farm. I have always felt very passionate about local agriculture, its importance to American culture, and its survival for future generations. I draw and paint what I know, and what I think is important to our society. When I’m not at work as a graphic designer, drawing, painting, or taking photos, I enjoy taking ballet lessons and hanging out with my husband, family, and corgis.
I display the destruction of nature and agriculture and its importance to American culture. My art depicts both Mother Nature and the local agriculturalist, along with the difficulties both face competing with the corporate man. Destruction of nature is represented by the omission of the environment; farm and forest animals are rendered on a white abyss. Counter to the removal of naturally occurring art, the pieces focusing on agricultural skills and trades, specifically butchery, bring to light these disappearing artisans. This catalog of endangered Americana is my attempt to remind us that what we have may not always be if it is cast aside.
Off Track Art Gallery
A Fine Art and Gift Gallery in Westminster, Maryland owned and operated by the artists.
Gallery Hours:
Monday through Thursday
by Appointment*
Friday 12 - 4
Saturday 10 - 4
Sunday 12 - 4
Stop by to see our
gallery show,
“Carroll County Artists’ Studio Tour: 40th Anniversary of Regional Art!”
in March and April
*offtrackartgallery@gmail.com
443-821-7355
Melinda Byrd
Byrdcall Studio
Woodbine, Maryland
Melinda’s life has been focused on two ways of seeing: Art through the eyes of a naturalist and Nature through the eyes of an artist. After working 15 years in Carroll County’s Nature Centers sharing her love of the natural world, she has spent the last 18 years expressing her experiences through art in diverse media. Look through her offerings here at Off Track Art, and you will see sketches, acrylic and watercolor paintings, linocuts, and woodcuts. Feel the magic of the moment when you look at her art through her eyes when you can capture that moment of discovery as she did.
Recently, her emphasis has shifted to reviving the dying art of “rya rug making” from Scandinavia through sharing lessons learned from her grandparents as well as decades of practice. Yet print-making, such as the works shown in her portfolio here, will always remain the works she most enjoys sharing in the gallery. She found a wide-ranging audience for her print-making work when she began hand-rubbing her art from carved and inked block to shirt fabric.
Melinda Byrd was among the founding members of Off Track Art in 2009. She is a resident of Woodbine, Maryland where she lives with her husband, John, their black lab Gypsy, and a cadre of wildlife that is drawn to their backyard habitat
