Contributed by Sandi Mulconry / Group M Communications

Imagine That…, the fine arts and fine craft gallery at 38 E. Genesee St., Skaneateles, will feature the work of ceramic artist Sarah Panzarella and printmaker James Skvarch throughout the month of December. Their show, “The Beauty Is in the Details,” opens with a reception Dec. 4 from 6 to 9 p.m. The Usual Suspects, an old-time string band, will perform; hors d’oeuvres will be provided by the Blue Danube.
 
Panzarella, of Tully, is co-owner of the gallery, which opened this past summer. Although she says nature is the primary inspiration for her work, she also draws from the Arts and Crafts Movement—and its focus on craftsmanship, function and quality—and the Art Nouveau aesthetic.
 
“I look at the grace of line and movement in nature to inform those attributes in my pottery,” she says. “The rich textures of natural forms embellish my surfaces, and my glazes call quiet attention to the fine nuances of my pots.
 
“I create bowls that suggest generosity and abundance; vases that embrace the delicate elegance of flowers they contain; ewers that speak of rich substances and special meals.”
 
Prior to opening Imagine That…, Panzarella was gallery director at Imagine, Art for Adornment, in Skaneateles and a private ceramics instructor. In addition to Imagine That…, she is represented by Sandra Lance Pottery in Middlebury, Vt. Her works have been featured in exhibitions at Baltimore Clayworks, Gulf Coast Community College, Cazenovia Art Park, the Thrown Together Gallery in Louisville, Ky., the Chiaroscuro Galleries in Chicago and the Media Image Gallery in Gainesville, Fla., and appear in the permanent collections of Nottingham Arts in San Marcos, Calif., and the Meyerhoff Family in Baltimore.

Panzarella earned a BFA in ceramics from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in teaching from Bennington College, completing additional study at the University of Florida and the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina.

 
James Skvarch, of Syracuse, has won more than 30 awards for his etchings, which depict caprices, landscapes, interiors, cars, trains, ships and boats. He also works in the medium of oil painting.
 
Skvarch has exhibited at the Cultural Resources Council of Syracuse, Delavan Art Gallery, the Schweinfurth Center, Mohawk Valley Community College, the Oswego Art Association, The Chameleon Gallery, Finger Lakes Community College, Robertson Memorial Gallery, the Rochester Memorial Art Gallery and St. David’s Annual Invitational.
 
His works appear in more than a dozen permanent collections, including those of the Cooperstown Museum of Art, the Munson Williams Proctor Institute, the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia and the University of Texas.
 
Skvarch earned a BFA from the Maryland Art Institute and did additional study at the International Academy for Art in Salzburg, Austria. He has taught at the Gulf Coast Art Center in Florida, Syracuse University and Onondaga Community College.
 
Imagine That… is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
 
For more information, call the gallery at 685-6264.