Harbour View Gallery in Cape Coral will welcome featured artists James Ellsworth (woodwork) and Mike Masin (photography) at a reception on Tuesday, Dec. 3 from 6 to 8 p.m.
“I think I was about 8 when a neighbor gave me an old point-and-shoot camera. I still remember the 120 roll film it voraciously consumed. I became serious about photography in the ‘70s when I bought my first 35mm SLR. Traveling a journey of thousands of frames I discovered that my passion was natural light photography. I was born and raised in New York City and was typically found prowling at night with two cameras and a meter making long-exposure night shots,” says Mike Masin.
“Now I live in beautiful SW Florida and marvel at the natural light scenes everywhere I look. I’m grateful for the beauty that surrounds me every day. I specialize in wildlife, and landscape photography. And I still shoot low-light black and white scenes because I’ll always remember the joy of shooting Tri-X film,” Masin adds.
Jim Ellsworth, a retired banking executive, college professor and community leader from northwest Indiana, began his wood turning experience in 2004.
Learning basic skills of woodworking in a high school shop class led Jim to pursue furniture making as one of his hobbies during his working career. Upon retiring to Florida, he began looking for other woodworking opportunities and ultimately chose wood turning as an outlet for his creative energy.
Initially self-taught, Jim quickly began honing his skills by attending classes led by nationally recognized wood turners at the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina and the Arrowmont School for the Arts in Tennessee.
Jim has won a number of awards in recent years for his turnings exhibited at various juried art and turning expositions. While continuing to produce pieces in a wide range of turning styles he is now chiefly specializing in the art of segmented turnings.
Their work will be on display through December. The gallery is located at 5789 Cape Harbour Drive, suite 104, in the Shops at Cape Harbour in Cape Coral.
