Dave Rappaport, who lives in New York City, has also lived and worked in upstate New York.
The majority of his early work was wood sculpture, experimenting with dozens of varieties of native and foreign species, testing the limits of their structural characteristics and exploring their individual aesthetic qualities. His more recent work has been two-dimensional, using charcoal, pastel and watercolor that has evolved into monochromatic images on archival paper that capture the architecture and landscape of upstate New York and Maine.
Joan Rappaport has lived in New York since 1946. She studied with Mario Cooper at the Art Students League. After graduation from Pratt Institute she continued to explore abstract painting, working and studying with Milton Resnick and Carl Holty.
Living and working in nature has always been important. Many summers were spent in the Catskills and eventually in Maine. The large oil paintings expressed her appreciation and love of nature.
Since her first visit to Monhegan in 1979, her time spent on the island greatly expanded as the need to be surrounded by the nature of the island became stronger. The Monhegan experiences created a shift from oils to pursuing a more personal, unique art form.
Rappaport's works have evolved, and continue to evolve using crow-quill pen and ink and watercolor on archival paper. She continues to work on each image until she feels it is completed.