CWC hosts exhibit by artist Athena Billias

MARGARETVILLE, NY, Nov. 24, 2008 – Watercolors and oil paintings by Tannersville artist Athena Billias who paints in the style of the Hudson River School are now on view at the Catskill Watershed Corporation’s offices in Margaretville.

"Catskills Waterworld" includes 15 stunning paintings of streams, waterfalls and other scenes from the rugged Mountaintop region of Greene County where masters of the Hudson River School of Art found inspiration 150 years ago.

The paintings, all classically framed, will be on exhibit through January 15, 2009 at the CWC, which is located at 905 Main Street, Margaretville. All of the paintings are for sale. The public is welcome to view them weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Athena Billias was born in Brooklyn, studied art at the Brooklyn Museum and majored in Art Education at Hofstra University. She studied painting at the graduate level at SUNY New Paltz.

Upon moving to the Catskills, Athena combined her interests in both hiking and painting by turning to the very portable medium of watercolor

"Most of my watercolor paintings are influenced by the Hudson River School artists. The thrill of watching the changes of the natural world, the light, the waterfalls, the weather, the seasons, is often augmented by feeling the presence of those famous artists of the past who climbed these very hills and stood at these very pinnacles to create their works."

Athena recently took a class with noted modern day Hudson River School artist Thomas Locker. There she learned some of the techniques and methods of oil painting used by those classic painters. "They sketched on site and then painted under-paintings, which were later finished and glazed in layers in the studio. The luminescence and atmospheric effects captured through these methods is unequalled.

"I know my art cannot reproduce what they did, but I hope to at least continue in their spirit. I hope my work communicates not only some of the familiar locations painted by the Hudson River School artists, but their love for nature in its wild and pristine state."

For more information on CWC programs to assist residents and businesses in the New York City Watershed, call 845-586-1400, or go to www.cwconline.org.