CAZENOVIA — From April 1 to 30, the Cazenovia Public Library & Museum will display the work of Cazenovia artist Roger DeMuth in a unique, interactive exhibit titled “Have Watercolors, Will Travel.”
The show will feature DeMuth’s original watercolors, his books on watercolors, and articles from American, English, French, Korean, and Indonesian magazines highlighting his work.
Some images will be accompanied by QR codes linked to books he wrote about his work and videos he posted on his YouTube channel, @123rdemuth, to share his creative process. Gallery visitors can follow the links by scanning the codes with their phones.
“Not all the images will have links, but quite a few will,” DeMuth said. “It’s a way to tell the rest of the story. Some of the links are [to] my YouTube channel, so there’s a video that connects to the image. I just posted a short video of painting a watercolor on [a flight] from San Diego to Chicago. I can tell you it’s difficult to paint on a bumpy plane, but it seems to work. I did the sketches in the airport while viewing my photos on the iPhone. [I] finished painting on the airplane. I have found that if you’re totally involved with your work, the flight goes by in a blink.”
CPL will host an artist’s reception for “Have Watercolors, Will Travel” on April 10 from 5 to 7 p.m.
DeMuth is an award-winning watercolorist, a gardener, a photographer, a children’s book artist, a lecturer, and a Syracuse University professor emeritus. He has been the creative director of DeMuth Design since 1970.
At SU, where he taught from 1979 to 2015, DeMuth was head of the illustration undergraduate program. He also co-chaired the graduate Independent Study Degree Program in illustration, ran the New York City Lubin House Undergrad Portfolio Open House for over 20 years, and co-chaired the Syracuse Poster Project for 14 years.
“Our students worked in all the creative disciplines, from the greeting card industry, animation, design, advertising, book publishing, children’s books, posters, prints, and fine art,” he said. “Remarkable talents and completely driven.”
DeMuth has written and illustrated seven books on his work, including “Nantucket Sketch Book” and “An Artist’s Life.” He has also completed three children’s books.
He has worked with many major corporations throughout the United States and Europe, including Cartoon Network, MasterPieces Puzzles, Disney, American Greetings, and Warner Brothers.
The artist has received numerous accolades, including the gold medal from the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art at the Society of Illustrators in NY for his memorial poster to his mother, “Squirrels are not just for breakfast anymore.”
Since retiring from SU, DeMuth has concentrated on developing an exhibition featuring over 800 oil paintings. The process has taken seven years and will take three more years to complete. Visit Instagram/rogerdemuth to follow its progress.
DeMuth and his wife, Naomi DeMuth — an accomplished ceramicist and weaver — have lived on Chenango Street in Cazenovia for 40 years. Their studios are open to the public each year during the Cazenovia Art Trail at the end of September.
“I have nearly 800 oil paintings in my studio, and [I have] many more watercolors,” said DeMuth. “The sketchbooks themselves take up many boxes and shelves in the studio — all of them with art on nearly every page.”
To learn more about DeMuth’s artwork, self-published books, videos, gardens, and more, visit rogerdemuthwatercolors.com or demuthdesign.com.
