Downtown Artist Series @ Tuscan Café & City Hall

The Northville Art House partners with community organizations and businesses to promote the appreciation of the arts, arts education, and local artists. The Downtown Artist Series has a rotating presentation of work by established and emerging artists inside the Tuscan Café, 141 E Main St. and at Northville City Hall, 215 E Main St. Featured work is available for purchase online and by phone.

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TUSCAN CAFÉ

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August 6 – October 15 – Sonia Shetty – Novi, MI

Sonia Shetty is an oil painter whose work  celebrates the quiet beauty of everyday life. Inspired by simple, familiar moments—her paintings reflect a deep appreciation for warmth, color, and the emotional resonance of ordinary spaces.

Working primarily in oils, Sonia is drawn to the medium’s richness and versatility, allowing her to build layered textures and luminous surfaces. Her style blends realism with illustrative art, capturing not only the physical details of her subjects but evoking a sense of whimsy and joy.

After stepping away from a previous career in software quality, she returned to painting with renewed focus, building her artistic practice from where she had left off. Through her work, she aims to create pieces that feel approachable and uplifting—art that brings a sense of comfort and joy into everyday environments.

Sonia continues to explore themes of simplicity, nostalgia, and mindful living through her evolving body of work.

Drawing from still life and interiors, the works in her exhibition titled Simple Pleasures, invite viewers to slow down and rediscover the richness of simple, often overlooked details. Each painting captures a sense of warmth and familiarity, blending color, texture, and light to evoke comfort, nostalgia, and joy. From floral arrangements to rustic indoor scenes, the pieces reflect an appreciation for life’s small but meaningful pleasures.

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August 20 – October 28: Sara Hadley – Novi, MI

With vibrant and expressive brushwork, my paintings are a celebration of the luscious, rich quality of oil paint. With each brushstroke, I hope to share a glimpse of sensitivity, passion, joy, and a bit of romance.

My work explores three genres: portraits [0n view in September’s Inspired by Sargent exhibition at the Northville Art House], landscapes, and abstracts [on view now through October at the Tuscan Café].

In my portraits, I strive to evoke the raw emotion, unique expression, and distinctive character of my models.

My landscapes are an homage to the fleeting beauty of the natural world, while my abstracts are a playful exploration of form and color.

[In my] new series of abstract works focuses on combining expressive brushwork and high chroma color. Vibrant hues of coral, turquoise, and lime react dynamically against bold black lines that both contain and activate each shape. Rather than representing literal objects, these paintings offer a visual dialogue between form and movement, inviting viewers to engage directly with raw color and kinetic space.

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NORTHVILLE CITY HALL

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July 1 – September 15: Dennis Gordon – Ann Arbor, MI

Printmaking is a dynamic and versatile form of artistic expression that bridges tradition and innovation. It allows artists to explore repetition, texture, and process while communicating powerful ideas and imagery. My background in printmaking has led me to explore new options in relief printing, specifically, woodcuts and wood engravings.

I take a digital image (photos I have taken, or photos of my paintings) and work to translate it to a dynamic and interesting wood engraved image.  I send this image to my laser engraver to cut the images into wood plates. I also began combining my painting background with the woodcuts by painting a background on printmaking paper, letting that dry, then inking up the wood plate and printing on that background.  I usually apply the background painting with a brayer (rubber roller) so that it is a fairly loose and non-detailed background image, which allows the more defined woodcut print to dominate.

Once the black and white image for my woodcuts was developed, I began experimenting with engraving these or similar images into other materials, such as cardboard, leaves, wood and matboard.  I sometimes combine these new engravings with my wood block prints.

Learn more about Dennis’ process and his use of software to edit images of his original artwork that can be etched into wood with a laser and printed into new and reimagined works of art.

To inquire about unframed wood block prints or other questions, please contact Dennis at dennishgordon@yahoo.com or visit www.dennisgordonartwork.com.

 

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