Craig Altobello
Stories in Wood, Mt. Monadnock to the White Mountains

April 24 - June 23, 2018

Autumn on Franconia Ridge
(click to enlarge)

Painted Trillium
(click to enlarge)

Craig Altobello uses the grain, texture, and natural color of wood to create images from nature. For this exhibit, Craig combines his love of hiking with artwork that captures both adventure and the natural history of Mt. Monadnock and the White Mountains. His colorful wood panels include landscapes, birds, alpine flowers, mammals native to the Northern Forest, huts, hikers, rock cairns, and dramatic skies.

Meet Craig Altobello: Thursday, June 7, 6:30 to 8:00 pm, in Sibley Hall. Peterborough artist Craig Altobello will be available to discuss his colorful, textural wood marquetry images inspired by his love for our local mountains and natural landscapes. All are welcome to drop in at any time during the reception hours.

Craig will demonstrate the steps taken to create a piece of marquetry art using wood and tools from his studio. Participants will see the process from lumber to the finished piece. Using a scroll saw, Craig will show how he cuts the wood to fit together precisely. It is the character of wood and the beauty beneath the bark that inspires his art. A variety of woods will be on display for people to handle and imagine how they could be used to represent an image from nature.

Artist Statement

Like people, trees respond to what happens to them. What they live through creates their character. Sunlight, soil, ice and wind … all these things leave their unique mark on the inside. I work wood's diverse color, grain, and texture, patiently and meticulously, to reveal the 'inside story.' And like people, this story hidden beneath the bark is beautiful, and forever astonishing.

Apple Blossoms and Bee
(click to enlarge)

Artist Bio

Craig Altobello was introduced to woodworking in 1978 during a workshop with designer/craftsman Thomas Moser of Maine. Inspired by that experience, he has been making furniture for his family and friends. Craig has studied at the Haystack School of Crafts and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine; Shelburne Craft School in Vermont; and the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, NH. His path to marquetry grew out of teaching middle school science, where he and his students documented their outdoor explorations through writing and art using cut paper collage. Craig saw the potential to work with the colors and patterns in wood to bring “collage” to his woodworking. He traveled to the College of the Redwoods in California to learn marquetry. The knowledge and skills gained in that course provided a touchstone experience and launched him into his current work. Craig is a juried member of the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen and the Sharon Arts Center in Peterborough, New Hampshire.

This exhibit and presentation are made possible by the Groton Public Library Endowment Trust and the Town of Groton Lecture Fund

Ken Hansen,
Curator

Great Blue Heron
(click to enlarge)