Press Release

Petria Mitchell

From February 2 to February 28, 2006, the Harrison Gallery will present a solo exhibition of landscape paintings by southern Vermont artist, Petria Mitchell.  There will be a reception with the artist on Saturday, February 4 from 5:00 to 7:00 PM and the public is invited to join us for this very special event.

Petria Mitchell grew up in upstate New York, but has spent most of her adult life in Vermont.  She studied at the National Academy of Design in New York and the Vesper George School of Art in Boston.  She did additional studies in engraving and printmaking with Jonathan Talbot.  She continues to do engravings for custom made musical instruments.

Petria Mitchell's paintings reflect the beauty of New England in all its drama.  "Her paintings capture the distinct mood of Vermont, where the viewer has an ethereal sense of time and place, either winter, spring, summer or fall."  Mitchell uses contrasts of light and dark areas in the paintings to create moody atmospheres.  She handles paint confidently with strong brushwork.  Richard Campman of the River Gallery School writes:  "Her brushwork has an abstract quality to it that testifies to the authenticity of her work. She understands that painting, at its deepest level, is a metaphor made real.  That reality does not pretend to be other than it is."

Petria Mitchell has shown work regionally and nationally.  Her works are in public and private collections across the United States and abroad.  They have been featured in Vermont Life, The New York Times and Art New England.  She has won awards for her work in the Fall National Juried Exhibition at the Southern Vermont Arts Center in Manchester, VT; the Biennial Regional exhibition at the Thorne Sagendorph Gallery in Keene, NH; at the Stratton Arts Festival and the Art-on-the-Mountain Show in Stratton, VT; and at the Centennial Art Show at the Hastings House in Walpole, NH.  Mitchell's work has additionally been exhibited in the Art in Embassies Program through the United States Department of State.