First Posted: 3/10/2014
At her upcoming exhibit at Duffy’s Coffee House, Manuela Battilani said those who visit throughout the month of March, can expect to see “the deepness of every single captured element.”
“The elements that compose a picture have their own beauty that can be seized through a photograph,” said Battilani, the March Downtown-Go-Around featured artist.
Her exhibit opens Fri., March 14, 5 to 9 p.m., as part of the visual and performing arts’ event held the second Friday of each month in Clarks Summit. The Downtown-Go-Around committee was formed under the auspices of the Abington Business & Professional Association to celebrate local artists.
When Battilani was 20-years-old, while living in her native Imola, Italy, she recalls taking photos of her family.
“I felt like capturing every moment of my life and my beloved ones,” she said. “That was the time when I started to develop what I believe I’ve always had since I was a child, a feeling to introduce myself to the perception and observation of the world around me.”
Her favorite genre is landscape and nature, as evidenced in “Deepness in the Sky” taken during an autumn sunset upon a hill.
“The light was just beautiful and the colors were shining of this light,” she said. “I challenged myself by transforming it into a black and white photo to give to the image a deeper sense of solitude.
“All the elements were in harmony with each other: the clouds, the field, the trees, everything was magically connected. I just had to visualize the right perspective,” the Factoryville photographer said.
“The Mystic Vision”, taken on a morning autumn day in a park, is another example of her affinity for nature. When Battilani stopped in front of this scenario, she said she saw a sort of door, an entrance into a magical world, where everything was linear and the trees and the water gave her a sense of peace. She described the sensation as “almost unreal, something unseen and beauty and peace.”
“That’s because being an introspective person, I feel in symbiosis with nature and its silence that speaks through its energy,” she said. “For that reason I express myself better in that genre.”
After moving to the United States in August, 2012, Battilani enrolled in an online professional photography course, “because I didn’t have a car yet and I wanted to be free to study at home, managing my own time.”
She said of her premiere exhibit, “…In one word I feel happy and at first I thought, is this happening to me or am I dreaming? But life is a dream and I feel blessed and thankful for this opportunity.”
The art of three Keystone College students will also be exhibited in the Clarks Summit Borough Building as part of the Downtown-Go-Around.
“Ward Roe (Keystone College Professor and Chairperson, FA Division) and I have been trying to coordinate our efforts to bring the Keystone community into Clark’s Summit…This will be an ongoing venture to bring more art into our own community,” Duffy’s owner, Mari Walker, said.
Exhibiting at Sole to Soul are artists, Maria Burd Rowe, jewelry and an eight-by-eight inch floral painting, and Zoe Tilley. Marylou Chibirka will be doing a portrait demonstration in the plaza near Sole to Soul at 535 South State St., and Everything Natural, 426 S. State St., will host artist, Tammy’s Stained Glass Treasures, 6 to 9 p.m., featuring Tiffany-style, hand-stained glass artwork, and including St. Patrick’s Day-themed pieces.
Cloe & Co., 410 S State St., will feature new and recycled paper art by Kerry Saggio Silvi. The Dunmore artist display will include wreaths, kitchen table accents, cards, and framed and quilling art.