The custom stoneware pottery creations of Red Bank’s Lauren Bellero are on display and sale, with the paintings of Donna Gratkowski, when the annual Mudslingers Art Show returns to Bellero’s home studio on Sunday.
If you thought the season for mudslinging ended with Election Day, prepare to be pleasantly, even delightfully surprised. One of Red Bank’s unique “best kept secrets” returns for a 17th annual edition on Saturday, November 9, when award winning artist Lauren Bellero opens the doors of her home studio at 39 Leroy Place for the Mudslingers Art Show and Sale.
Going on between the hours of 1 to 6 pm, the “hospitality reception” open-houser spotlights the decorative and functional clay works of professional potter Bellero, a longtime creator of wheel-thrown and hand-built stoneware specialties (check out the online gallery for a sampling of her “pit fired” works and more). The annual event comes equipped with a traditional bonus feature as well — live fireside music by singer and songwriter Jim Crawford, “whose stories lilt between quirky characters he has known and work that reflects his concerns about the social and economic well-being of our country.”
There’s another tradition built into the event, as each year Bellero invites a different artist from the area to showcase their work on her studio walls. Past guests have ranged from Emmy winning photojournalist Kristopher Schoenleber to Red Bank’s own pet portraitist Pinky Adubato, and this year the spotlight shines on the “energetic, captivating and dream-like” naturescape paintings of Sussex County-based Donna Gratkowski.
