Dexter Artists Featured in Chelsea Painters Book

The Chelsea Painters, a local artist group, has Chelsea Painters: Celebrating Their Art, featuring 28 artists from throughout Washtenaw County.

Dexter area artists include Teresa Freed of Lima Township and Scio Township residents Lois Lovejoy, Barbara MacKellar and Gwyn McKay.

The book was printed by Thomson-Shore, Inc. in Dexter.

 “We were extremely happy working with (Thomson-Shore),” said Sandy Knapp, president of the Chelsea Painters. “We did appreciate them and were very happy to go locally for the book.”

Knapp had dreamed of doing this book for at least 10 years as a way of giving back to the group that has given her so much during the past three decades. Knapp, who served as treasurer for nine years and is in her ninth year as president, also served on the book committee with Ann Arbor artist Madeleine Vallier and Ypsilanti artists Bill Knudstrup and Dee Overly.

“Bill took photos of paintings when needed by members, and he compiled all the pages of the book, a tremendous undertaking,” Knapp said.

The book is dedicated to Vallier, the group’s “French art mother,” who kept the Chelsea Painters going after Betty Maxwell, the original teacher, retired, Knapp said. Vallier’s painting Memory of Italy appears on the cover.

The book, which celebrates each artist and their different skill levels and passion for art, has been a huge endeavor but has been extremely worth it, Knapp said.

The project was also bittersweet. The day Knapp wrote the dedication page, Chelsea artist Jane Farrell – one of her closest friends in the group – died. The book includes a special “In Memory” page with a photo of Farrell.

The book sold well at the Chelsea Painter’s Art Fair and is available at ChelseaPainters.com. In Chelsea, it is sold at Dayspring Gifts, Just Imagine Books and The Arbor Nook Gift Shop in Chelsea Community Hospital; it is also available at Riverside Arts Center in Ypsilanti, Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor and the Wild Acorn in Manchester, and it will soon be available in Dexter.

Members of Chelsea Painters will sign copies of the book during the Chelsea Sounds & Sights Festival from 6:30-8:30 p.m. July 28 at River Gallery, 120 S. Main St.; and from 4-8 p.m. July 29-30 at Bumble’s Dry Goods, 105 W. Middle St. in Chelsea.

For more information, visit the group's website.