AMR Open Studios Tour Featured Artists Part II

by Robert Brune

The second installment of our AMR Open Studios Tour artist profiles celebrates four painters whose creative journeys could not be more different. From bold abstractions built around the power of color to expressive figurative works and imaginative visual storytelling, each artist has developed a distinct voice shaped by years of observation, experimentation, and personal discovery. Together they reflect the remarkable breadth of talent that continues to make the annual tour one of the Catskills’ most anticipated cultural events.

Donna Tadelman 

For Donna Tadelman, painting is an act of curiosity as much as expression. During the AMR Open Studios Tour, visitors were welcomed into a world where vibrant color, playful geometry, and imagination quietly coexist.

Her painting I’m Just Trying to Fit In offers a humorous self portrait that invites viewers to smile before looking more closely. Nearby, her colorful abstract compositions, which she affectionately calls “Sunhouse” paintings, grew from early experiments using dismantled cardboard boxes before evolving into rhythmic fields of color and movement.

“They’re mostly about color,” Tadelman explained. “Drawing matters, too. I don’t think they work if they didn’t have the movement.”

Rather than pursuing realism, she creates visual rhythms that celebrate the relationships between shape, line, and color. Years of studying paintings in museums helped shape her artistic voice, but she says the real romance has always been with color itself.

“I always told myself, if there’s something I can’t do, I’ll paint my version of it,” she said with a laugh.

That outlook carries throughout her work. Every painting feels optimistic, playful, and deeply personal, encouraging viewers to slow down and discover unexpected harmonies within the seemingly simple forms. Like Tadelman herself, the paintings possess a quiet warmth that lingers long after the first glance.

CENA POHL CRANE

Cena Pohl Crane approaches painting as a process of discovery rather than illustration. Working without sketches or predetermined subjects, she begins with bold, gestural marks and allows figures, landscapes and emotional narratives to emerge gradually. “I look and respond and let the imagery reveal itself,” she explained. Sometimes the meaning becomes clear only weeks or months later, giving the process what she described as the feeling of “dream therapy.”

Her recent work was influenced by W. B. Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming,” particularly the line, “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold.” Paintings such as Young Mother reflect anxiety, tenderness and the fear of protecting loved ones during periods of conflict. Crane initially rendered the mother and child more realistically, but later returned with sweeping abstract brushstrokes that loosened the image and deepened its emotional impact.

Since leaving her career in technology and moving to Margaretville, Crane has devoted herself fully to painting. The transition has given her time to explore brighter palettes, energetic movement and the emotional vibration created by neighboring colors. “I wake up in the morning and I can’t wait to get down here,” she said. “I don’t want to just make decoration. I want people to feel something and be energized by my work.”

GARY MAYER

Illustrator and abstract painter Gary Mayer welcomed an impressive 175 visitors to his studio during the 2026 AMR Open Studios Tour, making it one of his busiest weekends yet. Along with several sales, Mayer said the most memorable visitor may have been a dog that enthusiastically joined its owner in a spirited singing performance, creating one of the tour’s most unexpected moments.

Over the past year, Mayer has remained highly active, producing a new body of work for a successful New York City exhibition featuring a restrained palette of gold, black, and white. He has also continued exhibiting in Kingston while expanding projects through Art Up in Margaretville.

Looking ahead, Mayer plans to create several large-scale sculptures and is producing a print for an international artist publication based in Berlin, where contemporary artists from around the world will each contribute original work to a collaborative volume scheduled for release this 

ELIZABETH DIMON

Elizabeth Dimon’s intricate three-dimensional collage structures invite viewers to slow down and explore. During this year’s AMR Open Studios Tour, she continued work on a new piece titled The Watcher, allowing its story to unfold naturally rather than forcing a predetermined outcome. “Some of my favorite works have started with no particular idea,” she said. “I really like to kind of not know where it’s going when I start out.” 

Dimon, whose background is in film editing and photography, discovered her signature style during the pandemic when she transformed an ordinary wooden box into a sculptural collage. The result sparked an artistic direction she has enthusiastically pursued ever since. 

For Dimon, the greatest reward of the Open Studios Tour was connecting with visitors. “It wasn’t about selling the work so much as people just understanding it and being excited about it themselves,” she reflected, emphasizing the conversations that brought her imaginative worlds to life. 

Although each artist approaches the canvas from a unique perspective, they share a common desire to invite viewers into a conversation through color, composition, and imagination. The AMR Open Studios Tour continues to demonstrate that the region’s artistic community is defined not by a single style, but by the diversity of voices that call these mountains home. It is that spirit of creativity and generosity that keeps visitors returning year after year.

Donna Tadelman

 

Gary Mayer

 

Elizabeth Dimon

 

Cena Pohl Crane

 

Donna Tadelman